Stoked: Year Two
by WhazzupPeeps
Summary: Reef, Fin and the rest of the one-time groms return as seniors for their second year at Surfer's Paradise. Several new groms also arrive to start work at the hotel and get their shot at surfing the Office. OCs included.
1. Welcome Back to Paradise, Dudes!

**CHAPTER 1 - WELCOME BACK TO PARADISE, DUDES!  
**

**Howdy all, on the heels of my most recent fanfic (and the last of what I now call my "Year One" collection), this is my first story in what will be "Year Two" (as well as my tenth _Stoked_ fanfic overall). In my fanfic continuity, this takes place about five months after the events of A _Stoked_ Christmas, and one year after the show's "Welcome to Paradise, Dudes!".  
**

**This new entry's going to be a bit of an ensemble piece, focusing on both the returning groms-turned-seniors and on a set of new groms who arrive at Surfer's Paradise for a summer of work, surfing and fun. As the story progresses, you'll notice a few changes from the "Year One" fanfics (but I won't spoil them for you now), so read on and see what changes are in store. :D  
**

* * *

Up in his office in the Ridgemount penthouse at the Surfer's Paradise hotel, Mr. Ridgemount was reading the financial section in a Vancouver newspaper when he heard a knock on the office door. Usually preferring not to be disturbed when he was in his office, the hotel magnate lowered his paper for a moment. "I'm busy right now," he called to the door. "Come back later."

The office door, which was already slightly open anyway, opened a bit wider as Lo stuck her head through the doorway. "Sorry, Daddy," she apologized. "I didn't know you'd be working."

"Well, I'm never too busy for you, Lauren," Mr. Ridgemount said as he put his newspaper down on his desk. "Come on in, it's okay." As Lo entered her father's spacious, well-appointed office, he asked her, "So what's on your mind, Princess?"

"I wanted to talk with you about the summer and the start of the tourist season," Lo said as she stopped in front of her father's desk.

"Ah, right," Mr. Ridgemount said. "Before we do, Lauren, I wanted to say I'm proud of you for the way you've carried yourself since last summer - your problems with George aside, of course."

"Yeah, that," Lo said. "I'm glad you got involved and laid the law down on him last Christmas after he was exposed for that nasty prank he pulled on me and tried to get me in trouble with. He hasn't given me any problems since then."

"Good, I'm glad," Mr. Ridgemount said. "I meant what I said too about what would happen to George if he ever gave you trouble again, so I'm happy my warning stuck with him." He then set his paper aside and got up from his executive's chair to walk the floor. "But back on topic, you've really done me proud since I put you to work on the hotel staff last year. You improved your work ethic a hundredfold after you and Kelly started getting along better..."

"It helped that Kelly became a better person herself after she found love," Lo said.

"Oh yeah, her boyfriend David Hughes," Mr. Ridgemount remembered. "Fine young man, that David - a real credit to his father. Anyway, you also did what you could to improve the summer staff's lot here in spite of Andrew's mismanagement and his poor treatment of them..."

"The new widescreen TV and satellite receivers went a long way," Lo remarked. "So did sneaking them good food to replace the swill Andrew was feeding us," she added, thinking about the things Bummer had done to the groms that summer.

"And you were there for your friend Fin McCloud after she lost her father last year to that drunk driver, then Andrew denied her the chance to go back home for the funeral..." Mr. Ridgemount continued.

"Fin was definitely worth it," Lo said. "She also got some closure last fall when the drunk driver who killed her dad was sent to jail for two years and banned from driving for ten years. And we all know how Andy paid for what he did to Fin."

"Then you were there for me at my hospital bedside in Victoria while I was in that coma after my heart attack two weeks before Christmas," Mr. Ridgemount said. "I know this because your mother and Tyler told me about it."

"I'm just happy you made it through and fully recovered," Lo said.

"You also did a great job with your school work throughout the year," Mr. Ridgemount pointed out. "Straight A's across the board in every term and you made the honor roll and passed Grade 10 with flying colors."

"You always said I should do the best I can do in school," Lo said with a grin, "and I did."

"You sure did," a proud Mr. Ridgemount said. "And most of all, you didn't get yourself in trouble by throwing any wild parties to celebrate the end of the school year like you did last year."

"Oh, yeah," Lo said, blushing visibly at the memory of what happened the year before that got her into her father's doghouse, but which, ironically, led to the events that made her a better person for it. "And just for future reference, is a small party with just the fam and two or three friends okay for special occasions?" she asked, grinning again while looking hopeful.

Mr. Ridgemount thought about it a moment before giving his answer. "As long as we don't get a repeat of last year, and the guest list stays small," he told Lo, "I can't see a reason why not."

"Oh, sweet!" a pleased Lo said, happy to hear her father's decision about any future parties she threw. "Thanks Daddy, you won't regret it. Now, about those summer plans..."

"Yes, of course," Mr. Ridgemount said. "For doing so well in school this year, you're going to get to come with the rest of the family when I go on business trips overseas this summer. To start, I'll make it up to you for not taking you on the trip to Cabo San Lucas last year when we head down there in a few..."

"Actually, I was thinking, Daddy," Lo said. "Instead of me joining you on those trips, I'd like to go back to work waitressing in the Pirate Ship again this summer."

"What?" a surprised Mr. Ridgemount said, not believing what he had just heard. "You're saying that you actually _want_ to go to work again to earn your spending money?"

"That's part of it, but it's not the only thing," Lo said. "I've been hearing from Fin and some of the other summer staff from last year saying they're coming back again to work here. Broseph said he'll be back to work here again this summer, and with Johnny graduating high school this year, he'll start working at the front desk full-time now, helping out his cousin Carter with running day-to-day at the hotel."

"Well, this is a surprise," Mr. Ridgemount admitted.

"It's a chance for me to get to work and hang out with my friends from last year again," Lo said. "That's what I want to do, even if it means I have to leave the penthouse again to stay in the new staff house for the summer."

"You know Lauren, I'm really impressed that you want to continue learning what it means to work and learn the value of a dollar," Mr. Ridgemount said, "and more so, that you're doing so voluntarily instead of me having to make you work as punishment like last year. In that case, consider yourself back on staff at the dining lounge, Princess."

Lo let out a delighted squeal when she heard her father grant her request to go back to work at the hotel. "Thank you, Daddy!" she said gratefully while going over to hug him. "I'll do you proud again like I did last year. That's a promise."

* * *

Meanwhile at the seaplane terminal at the Sunset Beach waterfront, the seaplane from Victoria had just arrived at its dock, where two terminal workers tied the plane to the dock to moor it in place. As soon as the plane door opened, Reef was the first one out, suitcase and gym bag in hand. "WOO-HOOOOO!" he whooped as soon as his feet hit the dock. "Sunset Beach, guess who's back!"

"You might wanna be careful about announcing that to the town," Fin, the next one off the plane, quipped to Reef.

"And why's that?" Reef crowed. "Worried I'll get mobbed by the hotties that watched me in action at Gromfest last year?"

"No," Fin retorted. "More like _you_ should be worried you'll get laughed out of town by those same girls when they realize you're the same guy who got beat by a girl at Gromfest - _and_ lost your prized hair when you used hair remover on it, thinking it was hair-enhancing gel."

"Whatever, dudette," Reef said, running his fingers through his gel-styled quiff hairdo. "At least it grew back. Anyway, you only beat me by two-tenths of a point at Gromfest."

"That narrow edge was still good enough to beat you and get me the win in the girls' category," Fin reminded Reef. "Besides, you still finished second to Broseph in the boys' category, and he wasn't even going to compete in Gromfest at first until you pushed him into it with your non-stop bragging and needling of him."

"_Hmm_, who knew he had it in him?" Reef said with a shrug.

"That's what happens when you underestimate a soul surfer," Fin said.

"And that's something I'll never do again," Reef said. "Just like I'll never underestimate your drive to win when it comes to surfing."

"See now?" Fin replied when she heard what Reef said. "You're still a braggart, but you're already a little wiser for your experience after last year. You didn't brag as much when we met up again during my plane's stopover in Toronto to pick you up as you did when we first met last year. You also don't make sexist remarks about women or call them second-best at surfing or anything else like you did before the Battle of the Betties last year. See what a difference a year makes?"

"Very true," Reef admitted. "But you know the best part about being a year older and a little wiser for it? I got you as part of the deal."

"Can't complain about that...most of the time," Fin said with a giggle, then she kissed Reef on the cheek.

"Tell you what else we can't complain about - another year back at Surfer's Paradise, another year of working an awesome job as surfing instructor and another year of surfing and shredding some of the best waves on Earth," Reef declared.

"You said it," Emma, who got off the plane next, agreed as she stepped onto the dock. "Even better, it's another summer we get to spend with the friends we made last year."

"Couldn't agree more, Alberta," Fin said. "But wait 'til we get to the hotel and Lo sees us. She'll be so excited that we're back, that's when the squee-fest begins. Just wait and see."

"And you know what else?" Reef added. "When we left here at the end of last summer, we were but groms. But now, we're back as seniors. How cool is that, huh?"

"Yeah!" Emma said. "As seniors, we can do what we weren't able to do before as groms. We're not the bottom of the totem pole at Surfer's Paradise anymore."

"True," Reef said, "but this year, there's a whole new crop of groms arriving at the hotel. If Bummer hadn't been demoted to concierge last year, I'd say that I feel sorry for the new batch."

"But in a way, the new guys are lucky," Fin said. "Bummer had it coming for not allowing me to go back home for my dad's funeral and for threatening to fire me for even asking for time off for that."

"Don't forget that he also let those rotten Marvin boys have the run of the hotel and do as they pleased," Emma said. "I'm glad Mr. Ridgemount banned them and their parents from the hotel for life after that last incident with the cherry bombs in the Pirate Ship kitchen."

"Speaking of the new groms..." Fin said quietly, directing Reef and Emma's attention to the seaplane. The first of the new arrivals, a big, stocky boy of Polynesian appearance with short, curly black hair, stepped off the plane with his luggage and a surfboard and checked out the scenery. "Cool, man, real cool," the stocky boy, who appeared to be 16, said as he surveyed the area. "It ain't Hawaii, but it looks about as good."

Right then, Reef, Fin and Emma walked over to meet the newcomer. "Hey, you must be one of the new guys joining the staff at Surfer's Paradise this summer," Reef said, greeting the stocky boy.

"Sure am, bra," the stocky boy replied in a laid-back manner. "Name's Greg - Greg Kahale."

"Reef Garcia," Reef introduced himself, bumping fists with Greg. "This is Fin McCloud, and that's Emma," he then introduced the girls.

"Fin McCloud?" Greg said. "Hey, I've heard 'bout you - three-time junior surfing champion, right?"

"That's me," Fin said with a grin. "I also won the girls' division at the Gromfest event here last year. Gromfest gets held at the beach at Surfer's Paradise each year. You planning to enter it this year, Greg?"

"Since you mentioned it, I think I'll do that," Greg said with his own grin. "I've picked up a thing or two about surfing back home in Hawaii. But how 'bout you?" he asked Fin.

"I got bigger fish to fry this year," Fin said. "I found out the Canadian Surfing Championships are being held this year at Sunset Beach and I'm planning to enter in the women's division. It was the first major surfing event my grandma entered when she was young and she won it on her first try back in 1965."

"Hey, righteous," an impressed Greg said. "Sounds like you got one mad-skilled _kupunawahine_."

"Kupu-what?" a puzzled Fin, who did not speak Hawaiian, asked.

"Grandmother," Greg explained with a chuckle. "It's the Hawaiian word for grandmother. Don't worry, you guys stick with me and I'll show you how to talk Hawaiian in good time."

"Sounds like you'd get along great with a friend of ours," Emma said, thinking about Broseph. "You'll meet him later when we get to the hotel. He lives here in town and he's returning staff from last year."

"Hey Greg, what's the haps out here?" a female voice called from the plane, getting the group's attention as two girls, both 16 years old like Greg, stepped off onto the dock next. The girl who had called was dark-skinned with purple-dyed dreadlocks tied back in a high ponytail, while the girl accompanying her was tall, thin and pale-skinned and had long, dark brown hair.

"Just shootin' the breeze," Greg said to the dreadlocked girl. Turning back to Reef, Fin and Emma, he continued, "Dudes, this is..."

"Name's Ashanti," the dreadlocked girl introduced herself, speaking with a slight Jamaican accent. "You can call me Ash for short if you like."

"Hey, cool to meet you, Ash," Reef said. "Come here from Jamaica?"

"Sort of," Ash said. "I was from there originally, but I moved with my family to Canada and settled in Toronto when I was six." Turning to the tall dark-haired girl, she then introduced her to the gang. "This here's Bonnie," Ash continued. "She's here from Seattle. She'd say more, but she's kinda on the shy side."

"Hey, Bonnie," Reef, Fin and Emma all greeted the tall girl.

"Hi," Bonnie replied in a small voice, waving her hand.

"Whoa, she's gonna be working here?" Reef said quietly to Fin about Bonnie. "If she's as shy as Ash says, I'd hate to see her end up waitressing at the Pirate Ship. Can you imagine her customers asking her to speak up if she asks for their orders?"

"Hey, leave her be," Fin said with a light elbow to Reef's left arm. "She's probably not used to people she doesn't know. Give her some time." As Fin was about to say more, she was interrupted by the sound of a commotion coming from the seaplane, which caught the group's attention.

Right then, another boy ran hurriedly off the plane with his luggage, with another suitcase being thrown after him and a female voice yelling at him, "...AND STAY AWAY FROM ME, JERK!" The boy, who had short, spiky brown hair, grabbed the suitcase which had been thrown at him and commented to the gathered group, "Wow, did she get up on the wrong side of her bed this morning or what?", while pointing a thumb toward the plane.

"What was _that_ about?" Fin wondered with a raised eyebrow as she watched the spiky-haired boy pick up his other suitcase.

"I was just tryin' to make small talk with that babe on the plane," the boy explained, "and she totally wigged out on me. I dunno, maybe I caught her at a bad time or something," he added with a shrug. "My name's Trevor, by the way," he introduced himself to the group.

"Hey, Trevor," Fin, Reef and Emma all greeted the spiky-haired boy. "I guess you'll be joining us at Surfer's Paradise too," Fin then said.

"You betcha, babe," Trevor said with a finger-point gesture to Fin, making her roll her eyes. "You're lookin' at the soon-to-be newest lifeguard at the hotel beach."

"You gotta actually get that job before you can say you're the newest hotel beach lifeguard, bra," Greg remarked to Trevor.

"There's no guarantee that you'll get the job you applied for," Fin said. "Take me - I applied for surfing instructor at the hotel last year and I got saddled with a housekeeping job instead."

"You got stuck as a maid?" an incredulous Trevor said before he started laughing. "Must've sucked having to scrub toilets day in and day out for the summer!"

"Yeah, thanks for the reminder," Fin quipped sarcastically. "Better remember what you said though, 'cause it could come back to bite you in the butt."

"Take it from someone who knows, bro," Reef told Trevor while taking a bag of barbecue potato chips from his gym bag and opening it to snack on. "Last year, I was in the same boat you look like you're in now."

As Trevor was about to reply with something witty, the group's attention was caught again, this time by the sound of a female voice clearing her throat. Reef, Fin, Emma and the new groms turned to see a girl, about the same age as the new groms, sporting shoulder-length blonde hair and wearing a powder-blue, short-sleeved summer dress, standing at the bottom of the steps from the plane with two big wheeled suitcases. "Well, isn't anyone going to help me with my luggage?" the blonde girl said in a curt tone while putting her hands on her hips, looking displeased.

"That reminds me, _there's_ someone I'd rather not be in the same boat with," Ash remarked while indicating the blonde girl.

"Is that who threw your other suitcase out at you, Trevor?" Fin asked.

"That's the one," Trevor confirmed, not looking too enthused to again see the girl who had thrown a fit at him minutes earlier.

Meanwhile, the blonde girl, who was not happy that no one had offered to help her with her suitcases, marched toward the gang with a scowl on her face as she wheeled her luggage along behind her. While everyone else stayed out of her way, Emma stepped up to greet her. "Hi, my name's Emma," the redhead said, but she got no reply as the blonde girl snobbishly turned her nose up at Emma and walked past her without acknowledging her beyond a brief "_Hmph!_".

Once the blonde girl was out of earshot, Greg said jokingly as he watched her walk away, "Well, welcome to Sunset Beach, Miss Congeniality," making the rest of the group laugh. At that moment, the Whalebus arrived from Surfer's Paradise to bring the returning employees and newcomers to the hotel.

"What, _that's_ supposed to be our ride?" an incredulous Ash said as she saw the Whalebus pull up.

"Yep, believe it or not," Fin said with a smirk as the group started toward the bus. "But hey, I know how you feel. That's the reaction I had last year when I first came here and saw that bus."

"Man, what were the _haoles_ who designed this bus smokin' when they came up with the plan?" Greg said while checking out the bus that was designed to resemble the hotel's cartoonish mascot, Wipeout Whale. "You'd never see somethin' like this back in Hawaii."

"Then you might wanna brace yourself when we get to the hotel, Greg," Reef said. "The whole place is like one big tourist gimmick." While digging through his bag of potato chips, Reef then spotted a familiar sight close by in the sky, a seagull flying over the water and approaching the Whalebus. Remembering the running feud he had with the seagull last summer and how the seagull had constantly made a fool of him by "seagull-bombing" him from time to time, an older and slightly wiser Reef decided to extend the proverbial olive branch by throwing a potato chip into the air toward the bird. "Come and get it, seagull," Reef called as he threw the chip upward.

Without missing a beat, the seagull swooped in, snatched up the chip and gobbled it down, then squawked its thanks to Reef in seagull-speak. The surfer boy then gave a thumbs-up as he and Fin, the last ones to enter the Whalebus, stepped on board.

* * *

**So there's our introduction to the new grom OCs so far. On a note, the physical appearance of Ash, one of those new groms I described (the purple-haired dreadlocked girl), is based on an unused _Stoked_ character design from when the show was first in development. **

**The newcomers have their first meeting with the rest of the returning staff, that blonde girl attempts to stir things up against some of the newbies, and one of the new groms ends up falling head-over-heels for Lo - all coming up next.  
**

**Meanwhile, let me know what you think of the story so far, the new groms, etc.  
**

**_Stoked_ (c) Fresh TV Inc. and Teletoon. I don't own the show or any of the characters except my OCs.  
**


	2. The Reunion

**CHAPTER 2 - THE REUNION  
**

As the Whalebus began to make its way out of Sunset Beach en route toward Surfer's Paradise, the Kahuna began addressing his passengers. "Hey, what's up, summer staff?" Kahuna spoke. "All you returning staff from last year know who I am. For the new blood, I'm the Kahuna, I drive the shuttle bus for the hotel, so anytime you need to get into town, just look for me, just look for the Kahuna. All you new groms here for the surf?"

"Believe it, bra," Greg replied from a seat near the front, in front of the seat Reef and Fin were sharing.

"You know it, dude," Trevor joined in.

"How good is it?" Ash wondered.

"Best there is in Canada," Kahuna replied. "Double overhead most days. If you're lucky, sometimes you get triple overhead. Hope you're ready to get worked."

"Righteous!" Greg said. Turning to Reef and Fin, he added, "I think I'm gonna dig it here, dudes."

"Trust us bro, you will," Reef agreed. "We had a far out experience here last year."

"You can surf near the waterfront pier in town," Fin offered, "but the hotel beach is a better spot to catch waves."

"Thanks Fin, I'll keep it in mind," Greg said.

"Maybe you should keep Weight Watchers in mind instead," the blonde girl, who was sitting over on the other side of the bus, remarked snarkily to Greg. "You look more like you'd sooner sink a surfboard than surf on one."

"Really?" a laid-back Greg said, turning his head to look back toward the blonde girl. "I dunno, blondie, you don't look like you're in any hurry to go join the buffet lineup yourself." Reef, Fin, Ash and Trevor, who had overheard her cutting remark to Greg, started laughing when the big Hawaiian zinged her with his comeback, while Emma and Bonnie, who likewise overheard the exchange, stifled giggles.

The blonde girl, looking peeved at the verbal counterpunch Greg delivered, sought to try to get another dig in on him. "Yeah? Well, your hair looks like a bird's nest!" she said, commenting on Greg's hair.

"It's the real deal though," Greg, who simply let the blonde girl's insult roll off, countered with a grin. "Nice hair on you, by the way. How much peroxide did you have to use to get it that color?" Everyone else on the bus started laughing again when Greg made his next comeback on the blonde girl, who simply crossed her arms and slumped in her seat with a resentful scowl directed at the others.

"Nice comebacks, Greg," Fin said while taking a moment to glance over at the blonde girl. "You really put her in her place."

"It ain't hard when you're dealin' with _haole_ chicks like that one," Greg said. "She looks like one of those spoiled rich girl types who thinks she can go through life doin' what she pleases. Knock 'em down a notch or two once in a while and it'll bring 'em back to reality. They won't forget it."

"Yeah, I bet she won't," Reef said, also looking toward the blonde girl briefly.

In the meantime, the chagrined blonde girl, still stinging at being bested by Greg, did some contemplating while glaring at the rest of the gang. _If that bunch of losers think they can get the better of me_, she thought to herself, _they've got another thing coming_. While looking around, she then centered her sights on Bonnie, who was busy reading a paperback in the seat two seats ahead of her. Remembering from earlier that Bonnie was the quiet, shy type, the blonde girl quickly determined her to be the weak link among the group. _Yeah, that's it_, she thought as a sly look and a malevolent smirk crossed her face while looking at the tall, pale brunette. _I think I'll start on her instead. She looks like she'd be an easier target._

* * *

Back at Surfer's Paradise, Lo, her brother Ty and Broseph were outside at the main entrance, awaiting the arrival of the Whalebus. Fin had contacted Lo earlier when she, Reef and Emma arrived in Victoria, letting her know they would be on their way to Sunset Beach and the hotel soon, making the rich girl eager with anticipation to see the threesome for the first time since the Christmas holidays last year.

"Hey girl, you sure you haven't worn a deep enough groove in the sidewalk yet?" Broseph quipped to Lo with an amused grin as he watched her pace back and forth.

"I'm just amazed she hasn't worn out her shoes yet with all that mileage," Ty also cracked teasingly.

"C'mon guys, what do you expect?" Lo said as she stopped in mid-pace. "It's been almost five months since I've seen Fin, Reef and Emma in person. Sure, I've stayed in touch with them by webcam and text, but it's just not the same as having them around in the flesh. I've hardly been able to wait since Fin called almost an hour ago when they got in to Victoria."

"You think you got anticipation issues?" said Johnny, who had just stepped outside to join Lo and the others and heard what Lo said. "I can't wait 'til Emma gets here."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure of that, bra," Broseph said with a raised eyebrow. "Any new plans to try an' get with her again this year?"

"I've got a few ideas in mind," Johnny said confidently.

"I'm sure you do, Johnny," Kelly, who had arrived back at Surfer's Paradise the day before to resume her post as the Pirate Ship's manager and head waitress after finishing her first year of college in her hometown of Nanaimo, said when she heard Johnny mention Emma after coming outside herself. "Just make sure your plans don't fall flat like they did last year when you tried making some time with Emma and she totally clued out on you."

"I'm not worried," Johnny said. "This time, I've made my plans a little more foolproof."

Lo then took Johnny aside to talk to him. "Between you and me, Johnny," Lo said confidentially, "I'd rather see Emma with you than with Ty, but you need to make sure Emma catches on to what you want with her. You want to be more than friends with her? Make sure you let her know that and don't do or say anything in a roundabout way that's going to make her clue out about you again and think of Ty."

"Yeah, good call," Johnny said with a nod.

"And if you need any pointers, all you have to do is ask," Lo offered. "That's what I'm here for." Right then, Lo spotted something coming down the road from Sunset Beach from the corner of her eye, then she looked and saw the Whalebus approaching the hotel. "Guys, it's here!" she called to the rest of the gang. "Here comes the Whalebus!"

The Surfer's Paradise shuttle bus pulled up in front of the main entrance, then opened up its door to let off its passengers. "WOO-HOO!" Reef yelled excitedly as he was the first one off the bus. "Yo dudes, what's up?" he said as he greeted Broseph and Johnny.

"Glad to see you back, bra," Broseph replied as he, Reef and Johnny traded high-fives. "It's a new summer at Surfer's Paradise!"

"And our first summer without Bummer in charge," Johnny joined in, "so he can't boss us around like he did last year."

"True that!" Reef agreed. "I'm just surprised Mr. Ridgemount didn't fire him altogether last year after what Bummer put Fin through."

"He could've, but he kept Bummer on because he still owes the hotel for the money he took from the staff meal budget to buy that golf cart for himself," Johnny said. "But put it this way, I think we're all glad Bummer's not in a position where he can abuse his power anymore."

"Seconded," Kelly agreed about Bummer. "All you would've had to do was give him a Napoleon hat and costume to wear and it would've made a fitting picture. That's how much of a dictator he was to us."

"You got that right," said Fin, the next one off the bus. "How's it going, Kelly?" she said as she greeted the Pirate Ship manager with a hug.

"Great, now that you guys are back," Kelly replied, hugging Fin back.

"Still keeping in surfing shape?" Fin asked.

"Haven't had much chance to do it since the winter surfing we did here last Christmas," Kelly said, "but I've caught a couple of waves whenever I could get down to Victoria and surf with David at Beacon Hill Park."

"Speaking of David," Fin said with a grin, "I hear your anniversary's coming up soon."

"Sure is," Kelly said with a blissful sigh. "In about two weeks, it'll be a year since he and I started dating. I think he's got something planned for then, but he hasn't clued me in yet."

"Well, whatever David's got planned, I'm sure it's gonna be something special," Fin said, drawing a smile from Kelly.

* * *

Meanwhile, Emma, who got off the bus after Fin, came and greeted Lo as both girls squealed happily and hugged each other. "I'm glad you're back, Emma," Lo said. Noticing something a little different, Lo then asked, "Hey, what happened to your ponytail?"

"Thought I'd try wearing it loose for a change," Emma said about her long red hair, which began blowing slightly in a breeze that had just come along. "Feels good not having to tie it back sometimes."

"Looks good on you that way, Em," Lo said, clearly approving of her friend's new look. "You should wear it like that more often."

"Thanks, I probably will," Emma said. "I should show it to Ty when I say hi to him. You think he'd like the new look?"

Lo smirked resignedly when she heard Emma wistfully bring up Ty. _Nice to see some things haven't changed_, she thought sardonically about her friend's unrequited crush on her big brother. Just then, Fin, fresh off of talking with Kelly, came over and greeted Lo, giving each other a big hug and holding onto it for over a minute. "I'm so happy to see you again, Fin," Lo said, clearly pleased to be reunited with her friend.

"Same here, Lo," Fin said. "I feel the same way." Thrown together by circumstance the previous summer thanks to the events that led to Lo being forced out of the Ridgemount penthouse and into the old staff house and a job at the hotel, Fin and Lo later became friends after an uneasy start, then saw their friendship strengthened through the shared tragedies they experienced (the death of Fin's father due to that drunk driver last summer, then Lo's father's near-fatal heart attack over the Christmas holidays, which the girls had helped each other through), which then bonded them by sisterly love.

After their hug, Fin stepped back a moment to notice a change in Lo's wardrobe. "Hey, what happened with your yellow sundress and that purple flower, Lo?" she asked, noticing that the rich girl was now wearing a strapless, frilly white lace sundress with a narrow pink sash around the middle, along with a white flower in her long brown hair. Lo also had on the necklace with the middle part of the three-piece "Best Friends" charm Fin gave her for Christmas, as well as the angel pendant necklace the one-time groms had pitched in to give her on New Year's Eve.

"I wanted to go for a new look," Lo said about her dress. "You like it?"

"I love it!" Emma said when she checked out Lo's dress. "It really suits you, it looks beautiful."

"_Aww_, thanks, Em," a flattered Lo said. "I see you've each still got on the other parts of the 'Best Friends' charm too," she added, noticing that Fin had on the left part of the charm while Emma wore the right part.

"I've worn mine ever since we each took a piece of the charm," Fin said, taking a look at her part of the charm. Prior to giving the charm to Lo and splitting it between them and Emma, Fin had never worn necklaces or any other jewelry.

"Me too," Emma said as she beheld her piece. "The only time I've taken mine off is when I go swimming."

"Cool," Lo said, pleased to hear that her friends had worn their parts of the charm ever since Christmas. "Well, here's to best friends then," she continued with a grin, draping her arms over Fin's and Emma's shoulders.

"Agreed," Fin said, taking her part of the charm to reconnect with Lo's part. "To best friends."

"To best friends forever," Emma joined in, bringing her part of the charm over to connect with the other two pieces and complete the charm.

"Well, well, isn't that sweet?" a female voice then spoke up snidely. Fin, Lo and Emma turned to look and saw the blonde girl (who had just stepped off the bus with the rest of the new groms), who was looking toward the three girls and had just commented sarcastically about their reunion.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," Fin said, realizing she had to introduce the newcomers. "These are the new groms that'll be joining the summer staff this year. This is Greg, Ashanti, Bonnie, Trevor and...wait, what did you say your name was?" she asked the blonde girl.

"I didn't," the blonde girl said with a smirk as she folded her arms.

"Her name's Sabrina," Greg called. "I checked her luggage tag." Sabrina, who had no intention of revealing her name until she saw fit to do so, glared at Greg in response. The big Hawaiian, satisfied at getting under Sabrina's skin again, simply grinned back at her.

"All right, hi to all of you and welcome to Surfer's Paradise," Emma greeted the new groms.

"Hey," Greg responded.

"Hiya," Ash said.

"Yo," Trevor spoke up.

"Hi," Bonnie said quietly.

Seizing her chance to make trouble for Bonnie, Sabrina then piped up. "Huh? What's that?" she said loudly, mockingly putting her hand to her right ear. "Speak up, Bonnie, we can't hear you!"

"I said...hi," Bonnie said, still speaking quietly, feeling slightly intimidated by Sabrina.

"C'mon, Bonnie, you gotta speak up!" Sabrina teasingly continued to speak loudly, intent on preying on the tall girl's shyness. "What's the matter, cat got your tongue or something?"

"Okay Sabrina, enough's enough," Kelly said as she stepped up to Sabrina to make her back off of Bonnie. "Leave her be."

"What?" Sabrina said, feigning innocence. "I'm just trying to get her to speak up. What's wrong with that?" Turning back to Bonnie, Sabrina continued her mean-spirited teasing. "Isn't that right, Bonnie?" the blonde girl spoke up loudly again.

While watching Sabrina hassle Bonnie, Reef noticed the seagull from earlier hovering nearby, then decided to have some fun. "Hey, Sabrina," he called to her. "Isn't that Robert Pattinson over there?"

"What?" Sabrina said, her attention caught by Reef. "Where?" She then ran over to see if she could spot one of her favorite movie actors nearby - but as she looked around, she was caught by surprise when something landed on her head with a splat. "What the...?" she then said, realizing something had happened.

"Uh, Sabrina?" Reef said, directing her attention skyward. "Look up." A wary Sabrina then looked up...and saw the seagull overhead, then realized she had been "seagull-bombed".

"_Eeeww_, GROSS!" Sabrina yelled in disgust, then she ran screaming inside the hotel lobby in search of the public washrooms. Everyone else in the group then began laughing at the snobby blonde girl's misfortune.

"Cool prank, dude," Greg said to Reef about his successful prank on Sabrina. "Served her right."

"All in a day's work, bro," Reef replied, then he grabbed another potato chip and threw it upward for the eager seagull.

"You okay, Bonnie?" Lo asked the tall brunette as she walked up to her. "Sabrina shouldn't have teased you like that."

"It's...okay," Bonnie said. "But I feel better after what the seagull did to her," she added with a nervous laugh, and Lo joined in her laughter with a giggle of her own.

While Lo was talking, Trevor took notice of the Surfer's Paradise heiress and immediately became smitten with her. He stood there spellbound as he checked Lo out, noticing that she was very pretty. He became entranced by her long hair and the flower she wore in it, her white sundress, the light tan she sported, the light scent of the perfume she wore, and the sound of her voice as she spoke. _Oh man, that girl's a major babe!_ Trevor thought to himself as he continued to admire Lo and her beauty. _I'd sure like to get to know her a little better if I could get the chance_.

Trevor was still looking at Lo, who was unaware of him watching her as she talked with Bonnie, and was daydreaming about her when a hand waved in front of his face. "Hello, Earth to new guy?" an Australian-accented voice called as the hand moved in front of him.

"Huh...what?" Trevor said as he snapped to his senses and saw Ripper, the one who got his attention.

"Welcome back to the real world, mate," Ripper said to Trevor, prompting a few scattered chuckles from the gang. "We're just about to tour around inside the hotel if you're ready to join us."

"Oh...yeah, sure," Trevor said as he and the rest of the summer staff headed inside the hotel lobby.

* * *

**There's more to come as Ripper reveals the absence of a staff member from last summer, Lo is reunited with two returning guests (hint - it's not the Marvin boys), the new staff house is revealed, and Sabrina continues her troublemaking ways with the other new groms.**


	3. Se Habla Surf

**CHAPTER 3 - SE HABLA SURF  
**

**I gave this chapter a Spanish title because there's a bit of Spanish spoken in it, seen further into the first part of the chapter (I don't actually speak Spanish myself, so hopefully it turned out okay here). Also, the first major change to my _Stoked_ fanon comes just before that, as Ripper explains in an e-mail he got just before the summer staff's arrival.  
**

* * *

The returning seniors (now including Reef, Fin, Broseph, Lo and Emma) and most of the new groms (except for Sabrina, who was still washing seagull poop out of her hair in the women's washroom off the lobby) had ventured inside to show the groms around the hotel when Fin spoke up. "So Ripper, who else among last year's summer staff is coming back this year?" she asked after the group went through the main entrance.

"Well, there's a few folks from last year, both summer staff and permanent, who aren't coming back this time around," Ripper explained. "Most of those who quit did so because of Bummer, in part 'cause of how he treated them in general, but mostly on principle 'cause of how he treated you after you lost your dad."

"Wow," Fin said, surprised at how much overall support she had from the staff beyond her friends regarding her father's death and its aftermath. "They were that willing to walk out on Bummer because of me?"

"Pretty much," Ripper said. "Out of the rest who quit, two babysitters, a waitress at the DR, a bellhop and two housekeepers left because of the Marvin family and those snot-nosed brats of theirs. Zack quit the DR because he said Bummer was 'mean to him' one time while on duty. Then there's Snack Shack - he didn't quit because of anything Bummer did to him, in fact he was loyal to him. Snack Shack quit 'cause he was worried Mr. Ridgemount would fire him _because_ of his loyalty to Bummer and 'cause Mr. R saw him as a rep of Bummer's old regime."

"Remember last year when Daddy tried to set me up on a date with Snack Shack for that art show here?" Lo recalled. "Look, Snack Shack's a nice guy, but he just wasn't my type. Costume role-playing and _Lord of the Rings_ are his thing, not mine."

"Um, you know I like _Lord of the Rings_, right?" Fin, who liked science fiction and fantasy, reminded Lo.

"Sure, I know," Lo said. "But you also told me it's the role-playing sci-fi and fantasy fans who creep you out, and that's Snack Shack to a T."

"Ah, right," Fin said with a nod. Turning to Ripper, she then asked, "Back on topic, what about Lance? Is he back here with the rest of us?"

"Well, uhh... That's what I was gonna tell you next," Ripper said as he took a folded piece of paper from his shorts pocket and unfolded it. "Lance sent me an e-mail a few days before I came back here and he wanted me to read it to you guys." The gang then gathered around Ripper to check out the printed e-mail message from Lance:

_Hey Ripper,_

_Whazzup, dude? You must be real stoked to be returning to Surfer's Paradise this summer and I can't say I blame you, man. I wish I could say the same, but I got a bit of bad news I want you to share with the rest of the returning staff when you see them._

_I won't be returning to the hotel this year for a couple of reasons. First reason is because of that jerkweed Bummer. We both know how loyal we were to him on the job up to a point, but we had our times when we disagreed with what he did too. Well, the way he treated Fin after her dad was killed was one of those times and that was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. I stayed in touch with some of the other staff and they told me they're not coming back for the same reason as me, because of what Bummer did to Fin. Can't say I blame them, dude. She didn't deserve being treated like a liar or having her dad's memory dishonored by him and Bummer got what he deserved. Me and the other guys all agreed that we're not going to work with a guy who would treat a fellow staffer like that, so we're not returning to the hotel as long as Bummer continues to work there._

_Brace yourself for the second reason, dude. I just got accepted into the Faculty of Medicine program at the University of Manitoba back home in Winnipeg. Now I know what you're probably thinking right now. "No way! No Pants studying to be a doctor? Who'da thunk it?" It's true, man. I'll be starting in prerequisite courses this September before I can enroll in the undergrad program, but it's a first step toward me becoming a general practitioner._

_Surfer's Paradise has been great and so have the friends I've made since I started there as a grom two years ago. It'll probably be a few years before I make it back to Sunset Beach after I finish post-grad and get my degree. I'll get back to town eventually, just not to work at the hotel, but to set up my new practice in town, either at the hospital or at one of the clinics. But when I do get back to Sunset Beach, I'll be ripping up the waves again on my days off._

_Read this e-mail to the gang after you get it and let everyone know I'll be thinking about them. Give my regards to Ty, Kelly, David, Johnny, Kahuna, Lo, Emma, Broseph and Reef. And most of all, send my best wishes to Fin and let her know I hope she's doing better._

_Well, that's it for now, dude. Stay in touch and I'll see you sometime down the road._

_Peace out,_

_No Pants Lance_

* * *

"_Awww_," Lo gushed when she read the parts about Fin in the letter. "It's so nice that Lance wished you well, Fin. Too bad about him not coming back, but I'm glad he's got a chance to accomplish something."

"Yeah, me too," Fin said. "And I'll say what Lance said in that letter too. Him, studying to become a doctor? Who knew?"

"I bet you're glad about Lance sayin' how much of the staff here supported you against Bummer," Broseph said. "So much so that some of them quit on principle because of what Bummer did to you."

"It surprised me," Fin admitted, "but yeah, I'm glad for the support. But now it got me thinking - with so many staff from last year gone now, that means this summer's a rebuilding year for the staff, right?"

"Right you are," Johnny said. "We've got newcomers coming in for both permanent staff and the summer staff, and that includes the new groms who came in with you guys. We're going to be tested this summer with such a large amount of new staff, but with my cousin Carter on board as the new day manager, I think we'll do all right." Just then, Johnny overheard a conversation going on at the front desk between a tourist family and Bummer, who was trying to check the family in but was having a misunderstanding with them. "And here comes one of those tests," Johnny said as he and some of the gang went to see what the commotion was.

"Look, I'm trying to get your registration straightened out," a flustered Bummer told the head of the family while searching for information on the front desk computer. "But I don't know what you're saying!"

"_Señor, por favor_," the man spoke in Spanish, which Bummer did not speak or understand. "_Debo saber que manera Cuarto 607 están en su hotel_."

"Uh-oh, language barrier," Johnny said as he watched the exchange. "Bummer's got himself in over his head here."

"Hey Johnny, you mind if I give it a shot?" Greg asked. "Maybe I can help with this one."

"Sure, go ahead," Johnny said with a shrug. Greg then walked over to the family to speak with them and see what the problem was. "_¿Hola allí, hay algo que debe ayudar con?_" Greg asked the man, his wife and their young son and two daughters.

"_Ah, sí, gracias_," the man said gratefully as he turned to Greg. "_Debo saber que manera Cuarto 607 están en su hotel_," he repeated his question.

"What'd he say?" Bummer asked.

"He wants to know where Room 607 is in the hotel," Greg translated. "I guess that's the room he booked for his family."

"Let him know it's over in the West Wing on the third floor, past the Pirate Ship restaurant there," Johnny said, indicating the way.

Greg then turned to the man and translated, "_Su cuarto está en la Zona del oeste en el tercer piso, por delante de ese restaurante que se parece a un buque de pirata_."

"_Bueno, gracias_," the man thanked Greg. "_¿Lo que otros servicios hacen el hotel tiene aparte del restaurante?_"

"What else does the hotel have besides the restaurant?" Greg then asked Johnny.

"We also have room service, a spa, an outdoor swimming pool behind the hotel, a golf course nearby and surfing lessons at our beach," Johnny explained to Greg, who then translated to the family. "_Nosotros también tenemos servicio a las habitaciones, un balneario, una alberca al aire libre detrás del hotel, un campo de golf cerca y las clases de surf en nuestra playa_."

"_Excelente, que suena muy bueno_," the man said. "_¿Trabaja aquí?_" he then asked Greg, wondering if he worked at the hotel.

"_Seré. Comienzo aquí mañana_," Greg said. "_Vine aquí de Hawái por el verano a trabajar y hacer surf_."

"In English, please?" a perplexed Bummer demanded. "I'm having a hard enough time keeping up."

"I told them I start here tomorrow and I'm here from Hawaii to work and surf here this summer," Greg explained. He then turned back to the family and said, "_¿Debe ser de México, derecho es que?_"

"_Sí, de Cabo San Lucas_," the man confirmed. "_Esto es nuestro primer tiempo pasando las vacaciones en Canadá y nosotros querríamos aprender a hablar algún inglés_."

"It's their first time up here in Canada and they'd like to learn some English while they're here," Greg told Johnny.

"Great, let them know they've come to the right place," Johnny said. After Greg spoke to the family again, Johnny then told him, "I've got an idea. I'm going to talk with the manager and see if he can have you do some Spanish translation on the job when we need it. Sound good?"

"Cool, man," Greg agreed. "Count me in."

"Hey Broseph, think you can help our guests out with their luggage?" Johnny asked, throwing Broseph a Surfer's Paradise uniform golf shirt to put on. "I know you don't start officially until tomorrow, but..."

"Say no more, guy, I'm on it," Broseph said, catching the shirt and putting it on. As he was about to help the Mexican family take their luggage up to their room, he was distracted by a female voice calling "Hey!" Broseph turned to find Sabrina, whose hair was still wet from washing and rinsing seagull poop out of it, standing nearby with her hands on her hips and a displeased look on her face.

"What about me?" Sabrina told Broseph. "If it's your job to handle luggage, then why don't you take mine?"

"You a guest here?" Greg said, turning to the snobby blonde.

"No, what do you think?" Sabrina said curtly.

"Okay, then stick your spoiled butt in the freezer and chill, Princess," Greg remarked before he went with Broseph to take the family to their guest room.

"Whoa, _major_ burn!" Fin quipped with a grin while everyone else laughed. A fuming Sabrina glared at Greg as he walked off, then at the rest of the gang, before she stalked off to get her suitcases herself.

"Wow, even _I_ was never that bad back in my party days," Lo commented as she watched Sabrina storm away.

"Sure feel sorry for the guy who has to be her boyfriend," Reef said while also watching Sabrina.

"Never mind her boyfriend, I feel sorry for her parents," Emma added. "They must've spoiled her rotten when she was growing up and now they're reaping what they sowed."

"Boy, I'll say," Lo agreed. While looking around the lobby, she then spotted two familiar figures who were themselves on their way to the front desk, along with their mother. Gasping with surprise, Lo then called the two girls she recognized by name. "Erica? Brianna? Is that you?"

The two sisters, who remembered Lo from when she babysat them last year, also recognized her. "Lo!" Erica and Brianna said together as they ran over to her.

"Come gimme a hug, you two," a smiling Lo said, kneeling down and catching Erica and Brianna in her arms for a group hug. "How've you two been since I saw you last?" she asked.

"I don't eat as much junk food as I did last year," Erica said.

"It shows, too," Lo said, noticing that Erica was less chubby than she had been last summer. "Good for you, Erica."

"And I've learned to save my money for when I really need it," Brianna added. "Like for half-off sales at my favorite stores."

"You've learned well, Brianna," Lo said with a giggle.

"Are you gonna babysit for us again, Lo?" Erica said.

"That's up to your mother," Lo said, "but if she asks for me, I sure will. Of course, if you got her to ask for me..." she added with a wink and a grin.

"Yay!" Erica and Brianna both cheered, then they hugged Lo again. "Let's go ask Mom about Lo," Brianna said as she and Erica went to their mother at the front desk.

"Hey, aren't those two of the kids you used to sit for last year?" Emma asked Lo as she walked up to her afterward.

"They sure are," Lo confirmed.

"I don't get it," Emma said. "I thought you didn't like kids and you hated babysitting."

"That was last year," Lo said. "I learned through experience that it was only the Marvin boys I hated sitting for _and_ hated in general. I thought I felt the same way about Erica and Brianna, but I found out they were a lot more agreeable when they weren't around the Marvins and their influence."

"_Ohhh_, now that makes sense," Emma said. "Let's hope you have better luck with babysitting this year, then," she continued, giving Lo a pat on the back.

"I'll keep my fingers crossed for that," Lo said, then she and Emma giggled.

* * *

After the guided tour for the new groms around the hotel, Lo led the gang to the brand-new staff house, which had been completed three weeks earlier after construction crews pulled double shifts to get the building ready for the summer staff's arrival. The new staff house, which was located closer to the hotel than the now-demolished old staff house, looked nothing like the run-down and decrepit old staff house, but was more like a modern, three-story low-rise apartment block, even including balconies for each room and what appeared to be a rooftop garden area.

"So guys, what do you think?" Lo asked the gang as they entered the common area of the new staff house, which had new sofas arranged around the widescreen TV which Lo had bought last year, along with a pool table near the TV and kitchen facilities to the side of the common area. "Daddy showed me around here just after they finished building this place."

"It's a major improvement over the old Roach Motel, that's for sure," Fin commented as she checked out the white-painted walls with framed pictures hanging on them around the room. To relieve the whiteness of the room's walls, one wall was covered over with wallpaper depicting a beach scene.

"There's even more room in each of the rooms than the old staff house had," Lo explained. "That's why the new staff house is bigger."

"Hey, that works for us," Reef said. Turning to Broseph and Johnny, he asked, "You guys want to do like we did last year and bunk together?"

"Sure thing, guy," Broseph said.

"The Three Musketeers, together again," Johnny said as he, Reef and Broseph did a triple fist-bump.

"And you two'll be rooming with me again, right?" Lo said to Fin and Emma.

"You bet we will," Emma said with a grin.

"For sure," Fin agreed. "Just like last year, but with better surroundings and no roaches to gross us out."

The gang then started up a stairwell for the second floor, where the guys split off from the rest of the group as it was designated as the guys' floor, while the girls continued up to their designated floor, the third floor. On the second floor, Ripper stopped in front of one room, marked 202 on the door. "Okay Greg, Trevor, you guys'll be bunking with me," he explained to the new guys as he opened the door. "Each room can sleep up to three people with a bunk bed setup and a single bed."

"Cool, man," Greg said. "I'll take the single bed."

"I call the top bunk then," Trevor said.

"Fine with me," Ripper said, not really caring which bed he got.

* * *

Up on the third floor, Sabrina was the first to arrive at a room door, marked 311, and expressed disappointment upon seeing the accommodations inside. "I was expecting something better than this," she complained when she saw the bunk bed and single bed setup in the room. "Is this, like, a dormitory setup or something?"

"That's the idea, brainiac," Ash quipped to Sabrina when she also looked inside. "What did you expect, Buckingham Palace?"

"Oh, go cut your hair with a chainsaw!" Sabrina lipped off at Ash.

Ash, who was proud of her dreadlocks, did not take kindly to the insult by Sabrina. "Hey, are you trying to diss my dreads?" she said as she walked right up to the blonde girl. "You did _not_ just say that to me just now!"

"Well, someone has to say it," Sabrina replied. "Besides, a chainsaw's about the only thing strong enough to cut those nasty locks of yours."

"I think you need to back off the dreads, blondie!" Ash said.

"Yeah, says who?" Sabrina retorted.

"Says me, you spoiled little Daddy's girl!" Ash said, getting right in Sabrina's face.

"Step off, you purple-haired Rastafari wannabe!" Sabrina spat.

"Mall-shopping, hair-bleaching, Teen Scene-reading, peaking-in-high-school cheerleader!" Ash snapped back.

After overhearing the argument between Ash and Sabrina, Fin, Lo, Emma and Kelly all ran in to see what the fuss was. "Hey, what's going on here?" Fin said as she came in, followed by the other girls.

"Good thing you came in when you did," Ash said. "I was about to smack down her royal highness here for trashing my dreads."

"Only 'cause she called me 'brainiac'," Sabrina said.

"And I called you that 'cause you were expecting the staff house to have five-star rooms like the hotel does!" Ash responded. "You should be grateful you got a good room to stay in in the first place!"

"Alright, cool it, you two," Fin said as she intervened between the arguing girls. "Last thing we need in here is a civil war."

"Okay, we were gonna put Ash, Bonnie and Sabrina together in this room at first," Kelly said next. "But on account of Sabrina since she first got here, she can have her own room and I'll move in with Ash and Bonnie so there's a little more peace at least."

"Fine by me," Sabrina said with a self-satisfied grin as she walked toward the door. "At least I'll have a room all to myself."

"And that works for the rest of us," Ash commented after Sabrina left. "Who'd wanna have her for a roommate, anyway?" The rest of the girls were in agreement, making it clear that none of them wanted Sabrina bunking with them because of her attitude and her disruptive behavior.

Fin, Lo and Emma then stepped out of Room 311 and headed across the hall toward the room they chose, 310. "Well, here we are," Fin declared as she and her friends stepped inside. "Our home for the summer."

"And like you said, big improvement over the dump we had to stay in last year," Lo said, checking out the surroundings.

"Is it just me, or does this room seem bigger than the other rooms on this floor?" Emma asked, noticing that, instead of the bunk bed-single bed setup the other rooms had, there were three single beds in a larger room, much like the arrangement the girls had in their room last year.

"It's not just you, Emma," Lo said. "I think Daddy had the three of us in mind when he had this room designed for the new staff house. I'll bet he was counting on you two coming back."

"Well, whether he was or not, I think it's all gonna work out great here this year," Fin said before taking in a deep breath and letting out a relieved sigh, happy to know that she and her friends would not have to go through the same problem with their accommodations as they had last summer.

* * *

**After these messages - Fin is happy to get a new position at the hotel while one of the new groms objects to getting Fin's old job, another newcomer is discovered to have family ties to a senior's significant other, and the seniors debate about grom initiation.**


	4. Watch What You Wish For

**CHAPTER 4 - WATCH WHAT YOU WISH FOR  
**

**The day before the first day of work comes for the returning seniors and the new groms in this chapter. When you read through the first part, you'll see why I chose the above title for it. :D  
**

**Note: For the canonical characters appearing in this chapter (other than Fin, Lo, Ty and Bummer, whose last names are already known from the show), I've decided to use some fanon last names for those characters (including Reef, as established elsewhere in my fanfics) during the role call taking place in the first part.  
**

* * *

The following morning after the summer staff got settled into the new staff house, the seniors and new groms, joined by Bummer and Rosie, had gathered in the hotel's staff locker room and were talking among themselves (except Sabrina, who basically kept to herself because no one was willing to talk with her after yesterday's events), when they were joined by another newcomer, who was dressed up in the Surfer's Paradise purple-and-gold golf shirt uniform and carried a clipboard with him.

"Okay, how's everyone all doing?" the dark-skinned newcomer asked after stepping in front of the group. When everyone responded, the newcomer continued, "Alright, cool. Some of you guys here know me from seeing me 'round the hotel all the time, so I won't have to introduce myself to you. Some of y'all might also remember me from meeting me at the New Year's Eve dance here last year - right Reef, Fin, Emma and Kelly?" The four named seniors had a chuckle with the newcomer, amused about being recognized from that event.

"For the rest of you guys," the newcomer went on, "I'm Carter Archibald and I'm the guy you'll all be reporting to on the job for the summer..."

"Oh, so you're the tool in charge then?" Sabrina interrupted.

"_Riiight_, heard 'bout you just before I came in," Carter said in response to Sabrina's snarky comment. "Lesson one, don't insult the guy who issues your paychecks - you'll go a lot farther that way. But back on track, yes, I'm the hotel manager here, which also makes me the bossman to you guys. Joined the staff here last September when I came down from Edmonton after a certain ex-manager here...," he said while looking toward Bummer, "...got busted down for lettin' his power go to his head." Bummer could then feel himself shrinking where he sat when the eyes of all seniors present, as well as Rosie, turned and glared at him as they remembered how he had abused his power during most of last summer until Mr. Ridgemount removed him from the day manager's post.

"Alright, 'fore we move on, let's do roll call here," Carter continued. "I call your name, you answer 'here' or whatever, simple enough. Okay, Reef Garcia?"

"Here," Reef answered.

"Fin McCloud?"

"Here," Fin said.

"Lauren Ridgemount?"

"Here," Lo replied.

"Broseph Winston?"

"Yo," Broseph said.

"Emma Macdonald?"

"Here," Emma said.

"Johnny Archibald?"

"Present," Johnny answered.

"Ripper Matlock?"

"Here," Ripper said.

"Kelly Francis?"

"Here," Kelly said.

"Greg Kahale?"

"Yo," Greg responded.

"Ashanti Harvey?"

"Here-here," Ash said. "You can call me Ash for short."

"Trevor Hughes?"

"Yo," Trevor said.

"Hold on a sec - did you just say 'Hughes'?" Kelly interrupted. Turning to Trevor, she asked, "You're not related to a David Hughes, are you?"

"Sure am," Trevor confirmed with a grin. "He's my older brother. You must be the same Kelly he's been dating, aren't you?"

"Okay, back on track," Carter jumped in, cutting Trevor off. "Sabrina Dunn?" When he got no response, he asked again, "Sabrina Dunn?"

"Whatever," Sabrina replied snidely. When Carter looked at her with a raised eyebrow, she said with feigned innocence, "What? You said to answer 'here' or whatever, so I said 'whatever'. Can't, like, blame me for taking you literally, can you?"

"Uhh...yeah," Carter said, getting the sense that he suspected Sabrina would be a troublemaker. "Bonnie Spencer?"

"Here," Bonnie said quietly, barely audible to most of the group.

"What? What'd you say?" Sabrina said loudly, again seizing the chance to mock Bonnie and give her a hard time. "C'mon, Mumbles, you gotta speak up!"

"Hey, what did I tell you yesterday?" Kelly then told Sabrina, warning her again about her harassment of Bonnie.

Catching Kelly's glare at her, Sabrina backed off. "Fine, whatever," the blonde girl said. "_Sheesh_, it's like nobody can take a joke anymore."

"We can do without your kind of 'jokes', Miss Dunn," Carter commented. "Rosie Fernandez?"

"Here," said Rosie, the hotel's veteran head of Housekeeping.

"Andrew Baumer?"

"What do you think I am, invisible?" Bummer said. "You already know the answer to that one."

"Just answer 'here', Bummer," Carter said.

Bummer let out a sigh of resignation. "Here," he muttered.

"Alright, welcome to Surfer's Paradise - or welcome back, in some cases," Carter said. "Now, let's get down to your job assignments. For most of you returning staff, you'll be goin' back to the jobs you had last year based on your experience. So for starters...Kelly, you'll be back managing the Pirate Ship and acting as head waitress again..."

"Ah, nice," Kelly said, rubbing her hands together with anticipation.

"...and Emma and Lo, you got your servers' jobs back too," Carter continued. "Lo, you'll also continue as one of the hotel babysitters..."

"Uh-oh," Emma quipped as she looked toward a worried-looking Lo.

"...but this year as a senior, you get the right to refuse an assignment if the kids you sit for turn out to be brats," Carter said. "I know 'bout the problems you had dealing with those Marvin kids last year, so that's why you're getting that right of refusal this go-round."

"_Whew_, close one," Lo remarked, making a gesture of wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. "There's a couple of kids here I actually don't mind looking after, but I'll play it as it goes otherwise."

"Good call," Carter said. "Next up, Ripper...you're back on lifeguard duty at the beach."

"Ace!" said an enthused Ripper, pumping his fist in the air.

"Okay, Johnny...now that you've graduated high school, you're on as the permanent senior concierge, cuz," Carter said. "Andrew, you'll be his 'Deputy Dawg' from here on out."

"_Ha-ha_, sweet!" Johnny said with a grin, while Bummer, who missed the power he once had as manager since his demotion, simply groaned.

"Broseph, since the guy we had as senior bellhop quit, you'll be movin' up as the top 'hop now," Carter went on.

"Yes! Righteous!" a jubilant Broseph replied.

"Reef, you're back in as surfing instructor..." Carter said.

"Oh yeah!" Reef crowed, jumping up to do a little victory dance. "Who's the man? Who's the man?"

"Okay cowboy, pull in the reins there," Carter said. "And Fin..."

"Yeah, I know, I get to spend another summer in Housekeeping," Fin said.

On hearing what Fin said, Sabrina started laughing at her. "You, a maid? Can't say I'm surprised!" the snobby blonde said in response, earning her a dirty look from Fin. "How'd you enjoy scrubbing toilets last year?"

"Actually, nope, not this time," Carter said. "I checked your record from last year and saw you spent some time working as a substitute surfing instructor while Reef was out injured. We got a lot of guests coming this summer and we're expecting more of them to want surfing lessons, so we're expanding the instructor staff by one this year."

"Wait - you mean..." Fin said, anticipating what she was expecting to hear.

"Congrats, Fin," Carter said. "You're now joining Reef as our second surfing instructor this year."

"_Owww!_" an excited Fin said, finally realizing her chance to land her dream job as she pumped both her fists in the air. "Awesome! Thanks Carter, you won't regret it."

"Just do a good job and it's all good," Carter said. "Okay, now for the newbies. Greg, you'll be handling sales over at the Snack Shack stand by the pool. Johnny also told me about you translating for that family from Mexico while they were checking in, so you'll also be doing Spanish translation for any guests that need it."

"Cool, thanks man," Greg said with a grin.

"Trevor, you'll be doing..." Carter began.

"Wait, let me guess," an overconfident Trevor interrupted Carter. "I'll be the newest lifeguard on the hotel beach, right?"

"Uhh...no," Carter said. "Sorry dude, you'll be working the clubhouse at the hotel golf course instead."

"Told you not to get your hopes up, bra," Greg told Trevor, while some of the staff laughed slightly.

"Yeah, thanks for the warning," a chagrined Trevor muttered with a hint of sarcasm.

"Ash, you'll be working in the gift shop in the lobby," Carter continued.

"Right on," a pleased Ash said. "Can't wait to start up."

"Now, Bonnie..." Carter said next. "You'll be joining the wait staff at the Pirate Ship."

Immediately, Sabrina broke out in hysterical laughter. "You're kidding, right?" she said in between laughs. "She hardly ever talks and you can barely hear her when she does! How's Mumbles here gonna cut it as a food jockey when the customers have to ask her to speak up all the time?"

Sabrina's comment that time earned her glares from Kelly, Emma and Lo. "Hey, watch it with the 'food jockey' cracks," Kelly told the blonde girl, who was too busy laughing at the thought of the shy Bonnie being a waitress to pay attention. Bonnie, meanwhile, hunched over where she sat, feeling small thanks to Sabrina's cutting comments about her.

"Keep a lid on the wisecracks, Sabrina," Carter said. Turning to Bonnie, he then said, "She does bring up a point though, Bonnie. You'll have to speak a little louder and with more confidence when you take customers' orders. You think you'll be up to the task?"

With a nod, a hesitant Bonnie said, "Yeah...sure, I can...do it."

"It's okay, Bonnie," Emma said as she put her hand reassuringly on Bonnie's shoulder. "If you need help or some pointers on the job, that's what Kelly, Lo and I are here for." Feeling buoyed slightly by Emma's vote of confidence, Bonnie looked toward the redhaired girl and gave her a small smile.

"Okay then, Sabrina..." Carter moved on.

"Yeah?" Sabrina replied, perking up when Carter called on her.

"Since you saw fit to give Bonnie a hard time and you poked fun at Fin for working in Housekeeping last year," Carter said, "you can have Fin's old job."

"WHAT? You want me to work as a _maid?_" a shocked Sabrina said, stunned at her job assignment. "No! No way! I never do housework at home, that's what my parents have a housekeeper for!"

"Well, tough luck, Miss Dunn," Carter said flatly over Sabrina's objections. "We don't have a position here for 'professional shopper', but I will give you a choice - work at Housekeeping for the summer, or pack your bags and leave and I'll give your spot to someone who'll be happy to take the job. It's up to you."

"Fine, whatever," a resentful Sabrina grumbled as she crossed her arms while scowling.

"Lesson two, check your attitude at the door when you check in for work in the morning," Carter said, aiming his comment specifically at Sabrina. "You'll be fitted for your Housekeeping uniform in a few, so stick around."

"Boy, I'm really going to enjoy this," Rosie said as she looked at Sabrina with a grin. "The fallen princess gets put in her place!"

"Maybe next time, you won't be so quick to take digs at others," Kelly commented toward Sabrina.

"Gotta love karma," Fin quipped while the rest of the staff had a laugh at a chagrined Sabrina's expense. _Yeah, laugh it up all you want, losers,_ Sabrina thought to herself while looking around at the seniors and her fellow groms. _Enjoy yourselves now, but we'll see who laughs last._

* * *

Later on at the new staff house, Emma was coming downstairs from the third floor when she overheard a minor argument going on in the common area. "No way, dude, we're not doin' it," she heard Broseph say as she arrived.

"Well, I say we are!" Ripper replied.

"And I say no way, not after last year!" Lo joined in, siding with Broseph.

"What're you guys arguing about?" a curious Emma asked.

"We're arguin' about grom initiation," Ripper explained. "I suggested what kind of ideas we could use on the groms this year, but Lo and Broseph balked on it."

"And I told Ripper we're not doing hazing again for initiation, not after what we went through last year," Lo pointed out before she and Broseph began arguing with Ripper again.

Emma, who had been through the degrading and humiliating hazing ritual with Reef, Fin, Broseph and Lo last year and had not forgotten about it, thought about what she and her friends had been put through by the seniors that time in order to be able to surf the Office, and she did not want the new crop of groms to go through what she and the others had. "Hey, I have an idea," she then spoke up, interrupting the argument.

"Shoot, love," Ripper said. "What's that?"

"We all remember what we were put through by our seniors in past grom initiations just to get to surf the Office," Emma began. "Like last year, when we had to go through stuff like carrying armloads of watermelons up steep hills, having spray paint fights, Reef and Broseph having to go streaking through the lobby..."

"Yeah, now that's something I'll never forget," Fin commented with a laugh.

"Then there was me and Lo getting mayonnaise put in our hair," Emma continued, "all of us having to eat worms and bugs, having to surf with petroleum jelly on our boards, being buried up to our shoulders in the sand while crabs surrounded us..."

"Please don't remind me of that," Lo said, shuddering at the memory of the crabs crawling around her while she cried helplessly in fear of being pinched by them while she was stuck in the sand. "I had nightmares about that for three days afterward."

"Sorry, Lo," Emma apologized to her friend. "And to top it off, we had to go rooting through smelly garbage in a dumpster just to find a keychain we had to get if we wanted to surf the Office," she continued.

"And your point?" Reef said.

"My point is, the new groms shouldn't have to go through what we did last year," Emma said. "I'm all for initiation for the groms to let them see the Office, but I don't favor hazing them as part of it."

"Whoa, hang on there, love," Ripper said. "Grom initiation's been a tradition with the summer staff here since just after the Office was first discovered. You had to go through it, me, Lance, Johnny, Ty and Kelly had to, our seniors before us had to... I'm just sayin' you don't go messin' with tradition. That's the way it's always been."

"Well, I think that's one tradition that needs to change," Emma pointed out.

"Oh, really?" Ripper retorted. "Then let's see what everyone else here thinks about that. Okay, everyone here who thinks grom initiation should stay the way it is, raise you hands." Of all the seniors present, Ripper, Ty, Johnny and, surprisingly, Reef all raised their hands in favor of continuing to do hazing.

"Okay then, everyone who wants to eliminate hazing from grom initiation and try something new, raise your hands," Emma said, then she, Fin, Lo and Broseph all raised their hands, casting their vote against hazing. "Alright, so that's four in favor of keeping hazing and four against," she said after the vote. Stunned that she went against him in the vote, Reef glared at Fin, who simply smirked at him in response.

"Then that leaves Kelly as the tiebreaking vote," Ripper said, looking toward the Pirate Ship manager. "So, Kelly, what's it gonna be, for or against?"

While a confident Ripper figured that Kelly, who had gleefully led the grom initiation last year, would cast her vote in favor of keeping hazing, Kelly was split between loyalty to Ripper and staying the course with tradition versus going with something new. She thought about the sadistic pleasure she had taken in putting then-groms Reef, Fin, Broseph, Emma and especially Lo through the wringer figuratively during last year's initiation, especially when she came up with the idea to have the then-groms go dumpster-diving for the keychain as the final part of the initiation, figuring and hoping then that Lo would be the one to let her friends down and cost them the chance to surf the Office.

Since that time, however, Kelly had become a changed person thanks to the chance meeting with David in the Pirate Ship shortly after the initiation, which led to her and David becoming a couple and to Kelly reforming her once-unpleasant attitude. That, coupled with her own experiences of being harassed and bullied in her senior year of high school by her snobbish queen-bee archrival, Rebekka Drake, made Kelly feel guilty about what she had done to the groms last year, as well as regret becoming like the one person in the world she hated the most.

"We're waiting, Kelly," Ripper reminded her. "What is it, for or against?"

Knowing she had to make a choice, Kelly got up from the sofa she was sitting on and went to stand beside Emma. "Against," Kelly said, putting her hand on Emma's shoulder to let her, Fin, Lo and Broseph know which side she was on.

Fin, Lo and Broseph began cheering when Kelly cast the deciding vote in their favor. "That makes it five votes to four against hazing," Emma declared happily. "That means hazing the groms for initiation is history!"

Ripper, Ty and Reef grumbled among themselves, resentful about being on the losing side of the vote about grom initiation, while Johnny, who voted along with them out of loyalty to Ripper and Ty but who, secretly, had supported Emma in wanting to see hazing get scrapped, let out a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, Emma, who appreciated Kelly's deciding vote to abolish hazing, turned to her and said, "Thanks, Kelly."

"No trouble," Kelly said with a smirk and a shrug.

"Okay, Emma, you said you had an idea for grom initiation," Ripper then said. "What is it?"

"You all know about treasure hunting games, right?" Emma suggested. "Here's my idea..."

Unknown to the seniors, however, Sabrina had come downstairs from her room with plans to grab a snack from the fridge just as Emma began discussing her plan to reform grom initiation. Staying out of sight from the seniors, Sabrina eavesdropped on Emma's talk with the other seniors, taking in every word she heard from her. _Hmm, sounds like those loser seniors are planning something,_ Sabrina thought to herself while listening in on Emma's conversation. _I don't know what this "Office" is they're talking about, but it must be someplace real special if they want to let the newcomers in on it through an initiation._ Developing a sly look on her face, Sabrina began to get ideas about what Emma was planning. _And whatever the Office is, when the initiation's done, I'm going to make sure_ **_I'm_** _the only newcomer that gets in on it_.

* * *

**So, whatever Sabrina has in store against her fellow groms for the upcoming initiation, it doesn't sound like her ideas are going to be good ones for Greg, Ash, Trevor or Bonnie. What will the devious blonde have up her sleeve for the new groms? Find out next...**


	5. Sand Traps and Dumpsters

**CHAPTER 5 - SAND TRAPS AND DUMPSTERS  
**

**It's initiation time for the new groms as the seniors launch the tradition's revised format - but if Sabrina has anything to say about it, the new era of grom initiation won't be any peachier for the current crop of groms than it was for Reef, Fin and company in past summers. Also, for metrokarateacademyrocks, I've put a bit of Emma/Ty into this chapter (sorry it's not more, but I usually pre-write and plan out my fanfic storylines in synopsis to cover the basic plot before doing the main writing).  
**

* * *

The next morning, the summer staff's first official day of work, the seniors and most of the groms (minus Sabrina, who did not surf and was thus absent) were at the hotel beach, taking in a pre-work surfing session. Of the rest of the new groms, Bonnie, who was watching the session from the shore, was the only one who had never surfed before. Ash had some surfing experience thanks to taking lessons at a wave pool back at home in Toronto, which came in handy when she and her family travelled to the White Point surfing resort in Nova Scotia the previous two summers. Trevor, who wanted to take up surfing like his brother David had, had taken surfing lessons at the beach at Beacon Hill Park in Victoria prior to arriving at Surfer's Paradise.

During the session, while the rest of the gang were enjoying themselves ripping up the waves, Reef was doing his usual grandstanding on the surf when he ended up getting an unexpected surprise; Greg, who proved to be the most experienced surfer out of the new groms thanks to getting in regular surfing time back in his native Hawaii, coasted through the green room on his board, shot up the wall of water as the wave was breaking and did a 360 in the air before landing back on the water.

As Greg skimmed toward the shore on his board, an amazed Fin, Lo, Broseph and Ripper ran up to meet him. "Nice work on the green room, Greg," Fin said, marvelling at what he had done moments earlier. "You really shredded it out there!"

"Pays to get lots of practice in," Greg replied. "It helps to live right near the beach too."

"Man, if I lived near the ocean like you do," Reef said as he also pulled up to the shore on his board, "I'd have that kind of advantage too."

"If you did, you'd be even more unbearable to deal with 'cause you'd have even more of an inflated opinion of yourself than you already do," Fin quipped to Reef.

"Hey, what's wrong with wanting to be an even better surfer than I already am?" Reef stated.

"Nothing, as long as you don't let it go to your head," Fin said. As she was about to say something else, the blonde tomboy spotted Emma out on the waves, carving a path through the water with her board. "Way to go out there, Alberta!" Fin called. "You're doing great!"

"Thanks, Fin!" a smiling Emma called back before she went up the wave face and rode it through another forming tube, emerging at the other end. Johnny was watching Emma from the shore as well and was also impressed at how much his crush had improved since she first began surfing at the hotel beach last year.

"Great work, Emma!" Johnny said as he watched her glide back to the shore. He was hoping to say more to her, but Emma had her sights on something else as she ran past Johnny while absent-mindedly saying "Thanks, Broseph", not realizing who she was talking to as she passed him by.

"Broseph?" a perplexed Johnny wondered after Emma sprinted by him. "Do I look like Broseph to her?" He soon discovered the reason for Emma's misplaced reply when he saw her run up to Ty, who had just arrived at the beach. "Oh, _now_ I get it," he commented, sounding not too thrilled to see Emma catch up to her own unrequited crush.

"Hey Ty, did you see how well I did out on that wave a minute ago?" Emma asked.

"Sure did," Ty said. "You've improved to the point where you can shoot the Green Room and not get worked. You've come a long way since you took your first lessons with Broseph last year."

"Wow, thanks Ty," Emma said, sounding pleased. "You really think I've become that good?"

"Good enough that you could enter the Canadian Surfing Championships this year if you wanted to," Ty said.

"Well, maybe not enough to win or even place in the top ten yet," Emma replied, "but with more practice, I think I'll get there. Thanks for the vote of confidence, though."

"Don't worry, with more practice, I'm sure you will," Ty said.

"But even if I do, I think Fin would be the favorite to win in the women's division," Emma said. "She said she's entering that competition since it's being held here at the hotel this year, so I'll be supporting her in it."

"That's cool," Ty said. "Fin was good enough to take Gromfest last year in her division, so I think she'd be a cinch to take the women's trophy in the Canadians when they take place."

"She sure would," Emma agreed. "Anyway, Ty, I was wondering..." she then began to ask, feeling a slight blush in her cheeks as she thought about asking him to do something with her that moment - perhaps taking a walk together along the beach or on the hotel grounds. "What are you, umm..."

Emma did not get to finish her question though, as she was interrupted by a tap on her shoulder while a female voice addressed her. "Hey Emma, you ready for grom initiation yet?" Fin asked her.

"What? Oh..." Emma said, realizing that she and the other seniors had to fill the new groms in on what they were to do for the upcoming initiation. "Yeah, sure, I'm ready." As she and Fin walked back to where the rest of the gang were, Emma then asked, "Fin, what gives? Why'd you drag me away from Ty right when I was about to ask him what he was doing later?"

"Two reasons," Fin explained. "One, the new groms are about ready for us to tell them about the initiation, but we have to wait for Sabrina to get here before we start. And two - look behind you..."

As Fin requested, Emma turned to look - and, to her disappointment, saw Ty talking with a cute girl who had just arrived a moment ago, whom he knew from town. "What...?" she said.

"That's the second reason," Fin said. "To spare you from embarrassing yourself when that girl showed up to meet Ty. I heard him talking about her earlier, he knows her from his school and they've gone out a few times since before we came back here." Seeing Emma's disappointed look as Ty and the cute girl walked back toward the hotel, Fin attempted to cheer her friend up. "Besides, I know you've been looking forward to doing the initiation since you proposed to reform it last night," Fin said with a grin. "Can't let other things distract you from that now, right?"

"Yeah, good point," Emma agreed with a small grin while nodding.

"Now that's the spirit," Fin said as she gave Emma a pat on the back. Just then, Fin spotted Sabrina approaching the beach, just arriving from the staff house. "Hey Sabrina, what's the holdup?" the blonde tomboy called. "You were supposed to be here with the rest of us for dawn patrol, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah, don't get your panties in a twist," Sabrina remarked in a snide tone. "Anyway, I don't surf, so I put my time to better use by sleeping in a little."

"_Hmm_, go figure," Fin said to herself, watching with a raised eyebrow and her hands on her hips as Sabrina walked by. After walking over to the rest of the group, she then announced to Greg, Ash, Trevor, Bonnie and Sabrina, "Okay, new groms, you're about to go on an adventure every new employee at Surfer's Paradise has to face - grom initiation!" As soon as she finished, Fin saw Sabrina turn right around and head back toward the staff house. "Hold it, where do you think you're heading to?" she said to the snobby blonde.

"Back to bed," Sabrina replied. "Wake me when it's noon." Before she could get far though, she found her path blocked by Kelly, who pointed back toward the beach while glaring at her. Letting out a frustrated sigh and rolling her eyes, she grumbled "Whatever," then turned back toward the group.

"Okay, wait," Emma jumped in, now addressing the new groms. "You must all think grom initiation means hazing the new staff members, right? It did in years past, but this year, we've scrapped the hazing part of the initiation and we're trying something new."

"Okay then, I'll bite," Trevor said. "What's new about _this_ initiation?"

"You guys all familiar with treasure hunting games?" Emma asked. When all the groms replied affirmatively, she continued, "Good, here's the plan. As part of your initiation, each of you has to look for a keychain with a tiny surfboard attached to the key. Each keychain is hidden somewhere around the hotel, and you'll each receive clues specific to you on where to find those keychains."

"So what happens if we find those keychains?" Greg said.

"If you succeed," Lo then said, "you'll get to surf the Office." Upon hearing this, Ash and Bonnie both gasped with surprise, while Greg simply said, "Righteous!"

"Hold the phone, did you just say... The Office?" Trevor said. "I heard rumors about it, but I thought it was just a tall tale!"

"No, I've heard about it too," Ash joined in. "It's supposed to be the best surfing spot in Canada, but no one can find it."

"But only those who pass initiation get to see the Office," Ripper told the groms, "and those keychains won't be easy to find, so when you each get your first clue, you better be sharp and follow what the clues tell you."

"Yeah, I'm in then!" Ash said, pumping her fist in the air.

"Count me in too," Greg said. "I'm up for a treasure hunt."

"Bring it on, y'all," Trevor declared, feeling full of vinegar. "I'm good to go!"

"Initiation starts now, and runs until six o'clock or when every keychain gets found, whichever comes first," Ripper finished. "Good luck groms, you're gonna need it."

"Yo dudes, we still got another hour before we start work," Broseph reminded the rest of the gang. "Let's go shred some more waves!"

"Yeah, right on!" a hyped-up Reef said, echoing the enthusiasm of the rest of the seniors as they grabbed their boards and hit the water again. Greg and Ash joined the seniors as they headed toward the oncoming waves, while Bonnie remained on the shore to watch. Trevor did not join the other surfers right away, instead hanging back on his board for a moment to watch his new object of desire, Lo, pop up on her board and cruise along the water. Trevor's gaze was fixated on Lo as he watched her long hair fluttering in the wind behind her while she surfed, then his eyes scanned her bikini-clad body up and down. _Man, I was right about Lo the first time_, Trevor thought to himself while he kept watching the rich girl on the waves. _She really __**is**__ hot, especially in her bikini! Now I'll __**have**__ to find an excuse to spend a little time with her somehow._

Meanwhile, as she headed back toward the staff house, Sabrina turned around to look back toward her fellow groms and the seniors as they continued their surf session. _Boy, what those losers don't know_, she thought to herself with a smirk while she watched the gang. The seniors did not know about Sabrina eavesdropping on them and their initiation plans the night before, and unknown to them, the devious blonde had broken into Lo and her friends' room just after the summer staff had left to go to the hotel beach, then she checked and memorized the papers that contained the clues for each keychain's whereabouts before she went to the spots where the keychains were hidden, then she stole each of the keychains except for her own and pocketed them inside the front pocket of her Housekeeping apron. _I'm going to enjoy seeing them trip all over themselves trying to find keychains that aren't even there_, Sabrina then thought with an evil grin. _Meanwhile, I'll find my own keychain and then I'll be the only one that gets to see the Office when it's all done, while those other fools have to choke on it_.

* * *

Later on down at the Surfer's Paradise golf course, Trevor, in the middle of his first day of working at the clubhouse, was on break when he resumed his search for his keychain, which he had been on off-and-on since grom initiation began that morning. After following his assigned series of clues, he was on his final clue, which led him toward a sand trap on the seventh hole.

Figuring that the keychain was buried somewhere in the middle of the sand trap, Trevor got down on his knees and got busy digging at the sand with his hands, hoping to find the keychain and claim his chance to see the Office and get to surf it. "C'mon, I know you're in here somewhere," he said of the keychain as he continued digging. "The last clue said you'd be here, so where're you at?"

In the middle of his search for his keychain, Trevor then heard a voice calling to him. "Trevor? Trevor?" the female voice called to him softly, almost as if carried on a breeze. Pausing from his digging through the sand, he looked up and saw someone familiar. "Lo?" he said, sounding surprised to see the hotel heiress.

"Hey there, dreamer boy," Lo replied to Trevor, who saw her standing at the edge of the sand trap dressed, not in the cream-colored bikini with the lavender trim she usually wore for surfing, but in a white bikini with a bottom that was high-cut at the legs, with a sheer white cloth wrapped around the top of her hips. Lo's hair, as Trevor saw earlier at the beach, was fluttering lightly in the wind behind her, and she smiled as he saw her gaze at him while he heard what he swore sounded like the tinkling sound of wind chimes coming from somewhere.

"Whoa," a dumbfounded Trevor said, now looking surprised to see Lo as she stood before him in the white bikini, looking every bit like the vision of beauty he had seen when he first saw her yesterday at the hotel's main entrance. "Is it just me, or..."

"There's no time to waste, Trevor," Lo said lightly as she gracefully took a couple of steps toward him. "You're getting close to your chance to see the Office and it's not far off now. Just keep digging and you'll find your keychain. Then maybe, if you're lucky..."

Not believing what he was seeing or hearing, Trevor looked away a moment and shook his head a few times - but when he looked back, he found that Lo was gone, along with the sound of the wind chimes. "Ah, crud," the younger Hughes brother grumbled when he saw Lo was not there. "Just had to be my imagination... But _what_ an imagination..." he said, thinking about seeing Lo with the white bikini again for a moment with a grin on his face, before he resumed digging for his keychain.

When Trevor started moving toward another part of the sand trap to continue his search for the keychain, however, he got an unexpected surprise when something snagged around his right ankle. "WOOOAHHH!" he yelped as he was suddenly jerked out of the sand trap toward the wooded area nearby, then found himself hanging upside-down by his ankle from a rope on a tree. "Alright, what gives?" he said, not impressed about what just happened. "If this is someone's idea of a prank, it ain't funny! Now get me down from here!"

While Trevor continued flailing in midair and struggling to free himself from the ankle snare, over at the clubhouse, Sabrina peered from around the corner and watched the results of her handiwork, which she had set up to trap Trevor (who did not know that Sabrina had already found and taken his keychain earlier). "_Heh-heh-heh-heh_, that did the trick," the snobby blonde said to herself while watching Trevor, then she took his keychain out from the front pocket of her maid's apron and twirled it around on her index finger. "One loser down, three to go," she then said smugly as she walked away to her next destination.

* * *

Back at the hotel, Greg continued the search for his keychain, which led him to the area near the staff entrance behind the hotel where the garbage dumpsters and recycling bins were kept. Greg found it odd that the last clue leading to the keychain's whereabouts would bring him to the dumpster area, but the big Hawaiian shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey, am I gonna let a dumpster full of _pilau_ _'__ōpala_ get in the way of finding that keychain and getting to surf the best waves outside of Hawaii?" Greg asked himself, referring to the garbage inside the dumpster. "No chance, bra. I'm goin' for it, even if it means I gotta take a shower after," he then said, flipping the lid up on the dumpster indicated by the clue and leaning in to search around.

But as he was leaning halfway into the dumpster to look for his keychain, Greg suddenly felt something flip him into the dumpster, then its lid came down on top of the opening. Moments later, he flipped the dumpster lid back up and popped his head up, coughing in disgust thanks to the smelly garbage. "Man, that reeks!" he said in between coughing spells. "Who'd go and throw me inside a dumpster as part of the initiation anyway? I thought Emma said they did away with hazing!"

Meanwhile, outside the walls of the dumpster area, Sabrina, the culprit who had pushed Greg into the dumpster despite being only about one-third his size, was basking in having pulled off her second prank against one of her fellow groms while she heard Greg's dilemma inside the dumpster. _Oh yeah, tampering with that final clue of his really paid off_, she thought to herself with a malevolent smirk. _He didn't have any idea his keychain wasn't really in the dumpster where I misled him to, but at the poolside snack stand where I found it earlier_. She then took out Greg's keychain and non-chalantly tossed it in the air a moment before catching it and pocketing it again, satisfied that switching the fake final clue she had written for the real one which the seniors had worked on was successful, before she walked away and went back inside the hotel by the staff entrance, intent on continuing her initiation mischief.

* * *

**Well, so much for Trevor and Greg's efforts to get their keychains thanks to Sabrina's shenanigans... But if there's anything good Trevor got out of his quest, it'd have to be his daydream about Lo. Whether he'll be able to translate that to a chance to get to know the girl of his dreams better remains to be seen, though.**

**Next, Ash and Bonnie try their luck at a shot at seeing the Office, and one of the new groms falls victim to a particularly cruel prank (hint - it's not Sabrina).**


	6. Dirty Tricks

**CHAPTER 6 - DIRTY TRICKS  
**

**So, after a bit of a gap between chapters (due to a bit of a creative block and real life intervening in the meantime), Chapter Six is finally up. As the title suggests, this installment shows just how far Sabrina will go to try and stop her fellow new groms from succeeding in finding their keychains for grom initiation - including outright humiliation of another grom...  
**

**NOTE: Read further into the chapter and you'll find a little _Total Drama_ reference mentioned by Kelly (take a guess which episode it's from).  
**

* * *

After re-entering the hotel, Sabrina was humming happily to herself while walking through the service corridor on her way to the broom closet, thinking about the tricks she had pulled earlier on fellow groms Greg and Trevor during their searches for their keychains for grom initiation. Sabrina was pleased about getting her revenge against Greg for his retorts to her attempted insults against him, and she was glad to get back at the cocky Trevor for "daring" to talk to her on the seaplane as they arrived at Sunset Beach two days earlier, but she was far from done with her scheming. By preventing the other groms from finding their keychains by stealing and hiding them, she also intended on sticking it to Reef, Fin, Emma and the other seniors and making them look like fools as well.

As she approached the broom closet after turning a corner from the service corridor, Sabrina was spotted by Ash, who had just stepped out from the women's public washroom nearby while on break from the gift shop. Wondering what Sabrina was up to, Ash asked, "Hey, what're you so happy about?"

Sabrina turned her head to look back at Ash. "Oh, nothing," she said, pretending innocence. "Just felt like humming, that's all. Nothing, like, wrong with that, right?"

"When it's coming from you, I wonder," Ash said with a raised eyebrow. "So how's your keychain search goin', anyway?"

"Not that it's any of your business," Sabrina said as she unlocked the broom closet with the key she had been issued when she got her Housekeeping uniform dress, "but it's been a piece of cake for me. All the clues I got were a cinch to solve."

"Yeah, I'll bet," Ash replied, not sounding impressed with the snobby blonde girl's bragging about her progress with the initiation. Moments after Sabrina walked into the broom closet, Ash heard a gasp coming from inside.

"Oh, look at this!" Sabrina said as she walked back out, pretending surprise at what she found inside. "I just found my keychain! Isn't that something?" She then jangled the keychain in front of Ash's face, simply to rub in her success. "Now I've got my chance to check out the Office when the initiation ends later today and I pulled it off with ease." Unknown to Ash, though, Sabrina already knew where her keychain was in advance thanks to her cheating and she was simply going through the motions.

"But you said you don't even surf," Ash responded, "so what's the point in you wanting to see the Office anyway?"

"I don't have to surf to see the Office," Sabrina retorted. "I can just use it as a place to chill out and relax when I feel like it."

"Yeah? Well, I think it sounds kinda convenient that you were able to find your keychain so easily," an incredulous Ash said.

"Jealous much?" Sabrina said smugly, giving Ash a smirk.

Ash became slightly suspicious about Sabrina's ability to find the key so quickly, but she decided not to argue the point. "Forget it, I'm goin' back to work," the purple-haired girl said as she walked away to return to the gift shop.

"Oh yeah, she's jealous," Sabrina said to herself with a snicker as she watched Ash head back to the gift shop. Moments later, she decided to stroll over to the gift shop's entrance, staying just out of sight of Ash, who was tending to some customers at the checkout counter. _C'mon, Dreadlock Girl, sooner or later, you're going to get curious about whatever clue you got next in search of your keychain_, Sabrina thought, starting to file her fingernails while standing around waiting for Ash to decide to check her next keychain clue. _And if that next clue's your last one and you go looking for it where I think you're going to go, POW! You won't know what hit you._

As Sabrina continued to file her nails while standing outside the gift shop, Carter walked by and spotted the blonde girl slacking on the job. "Hey, you got time to lean, you got time to clean," the new day manager reminded her while snapping his fingers in her face to get her attention. "Come on, Miss Dunn, let's hustle here."

Watching Carter walk away, Sabrina simply decided to ignore his order as she moved on to filing her left middle fingernail. _Right, like I'm going to mop floors just because you tell me to_, she thought. _If he wanted to, my dad could buy this hotel and put you out of a job._

Inside the gift shop, Ash got finished returning change to a customer buying a pair of bikinis when she decided to check on what was her final clue to locate her keychain. "_Hmm_, according to the final clue, my keychain should be somewhere in the stock room," she said to herself while studying the clue. Seeing no one else in the store besides another employee, a girl named Robin, Ash decided to head to the stock room door and opened it...

Outside the store, Sabrina, who had heard Ash speak moments ago, was listening for what she was expecting to happen when her payoff came seconds later as she heard something come down, followed by a scream coming from inside the gift shop. Turning to see the results of her handiwork, Sabrina poked her head inside the store and smiled as she saw Ash emerge from the stock room, covered in what turned out to be fish guts. "ARRRGH, that's _gross!_" Ash complained as she looked in a wall-mounted mirror and saw the outcome of the bucket that landed upside-down over her head moments earlier.

"Ohmigosh, Ash!" Robin said as she came running to the scene. "What happened?"

"Someone's idea of a practical joke, that's what!" Ash griped while pulling away some of the fish guts back into the bucket. "Robin, can you watch the store while I take off for a bit? If Carter asks, tell him I went to get a shower and a change of clothes, and tell him why I need one." She then left the gift shop to head for the staff locker room, thinking to herself, _Fish guts - __**totally**__ nast! And I thought Emma said there wouldn't be any hazing for this initiation!_

Sabrina watched as Ash headed toward the locker room to get that much-needed shower, then she giggled to herself and retrieved Ash's keychain, which she had found and stolen from the gift shop stock room earlier before she set up the fish-guts-in-the-bucket prank in there, to check out. "And that's three losers down," she said to herself with another laugh before she stashed the third stolen keychain back in the pocket of her maid's apron. "Maybe that'll teach you to talk trash about me, Dreadlock Girl." Glancing toward the Pirate Ship next, Sabrina got another sly look on her face before deciding to head over to the dining lounge. "And this next one's going to be the sweetest punk of all," she said, thinking about her next target in the grom initiation...

* * *

Once inside the Pirate Ship, Sabrina decided to take a seat at an available table and, to make her presence there seem legitimate, waited for the first available waitress to come by so she could place a lunch order. Recognizing Lo as she passed by, Sabrina called, "Yoo-hoo, food jockey! I need some service!"

Lo, who was on her way to take another customer's order, was annoyed by Sabrina's snarky remark to her as she glanced around, but decided to go and see her. "What do you want, Sabrina?" she said. "Aren't you supposed to be working right now?"

"_Ha-ha-ha_, nice uniform!" Sabrina replied with some sarcasm, commenting on Lo's serving wench outfit. "I'm sure glad I don't have to wear a cheesy-looking costume like that for work."

Raising an eyebrow, Lo came up with a quick-witted response. "Well, I'm sure glad I don't have to work as a glorified janitor," the hotel heiress retorted. "Someone else can serve you," she added as she walked away with a quiet giggle.

Sabrina was not happy about Lo's comeback, but she decided to channel her displeasure elsewhere when she saw Bonnie approaching from the pick-up window, carrying an order of what appeared to be soup and a sandwich. _Uh-oh, here comes Mumbles_, she thought to herself as she spotted the shy girl coming. _Now's my chance to give her a double-dose of humiliation - just enough to make her not want to show her face in public around here again_.

As Bonnie passed by Sabrina's table, carrying a customer's order of clam chowder and a tuna salad sandwich on her tray, she suddenly felt herself get tripped up, making her scream in surprise as she fell to the floor with the lunch order. Sabrina, who had put her right foot out to trip Bonnie as she went by, then began laughing as she watched the tall brunette get back up. "Wow, Mumbles, never saw you look better!" she said as she noticed that Bonnie had the chowder spilled all over her uniform, as well as bits of the tuna salad sandwich stuck to the dress. "Gotta say, clam chowder really suits you!"

Angry about what she realized was a deliberate attempt to humiliate her, Bonnie walked up to Sabrina. "W-W-W-W-What's t-t-t-t-t-the m-m-m-m-matter w-w-w-w-w..." she said angrily to the snobby blonde, stuttering her words as she spoke. By doing so, however, Bonnie had only given Sabrina more ammunition to use against her.

"W-W-W-W-What's the m-m-m-m-matter with m-m-m-m-me?" Sabrina said mockingly to Bonnie, making fun of her stutter. "Nothing's wrong with me, but I really enjoy your Porky Pig imitation there, Mumbles! Have you b-b-b-b-been holding out on us?"

"Q-Q-Q-Q-Quit it!" Bonnie said, growing red in the face. "It's n-n-n-n-not f-f-f-f-funny!"

"Sure it is!" Sabrina said, not caring in the least that her actions were starting to draw attention from around the restaurant. "C'mon, Porky, do that line for me - 'B-D-B-D-B-D-B-D-B-D-That's all, folks!'." Thoroughly humiliated by Sabrina's cruel prank on her, and even more so by having her stutter made fun of, Bonnie buried her face in her hands and began to cry as she ran off toward the kitchen, passing by Lo, Emma and Kelly on her way.

When Kelly, Lo and Emma saw Sabrina in the restaurant and figured out she was behind what was wrong with Bonnie, they marched toward Sabrina's table. "Hey, what did you do to Bonnie?" Lo snapped, putting her hands on her hips as she glared at Sabrina. "She just ran by us crying while covered with clam chowder!"

Sabrina caught the angry and disapproving looks of the three Pirate Ship waitresses as Kelly, standing in the middle of the three, crossed her arms while Lo still had her hands on her hips and Emma had her fists clenched, but she disregarded the reason for their states of mind. "You didn't know you had a Porky Pig impersonator working for you, did you?" she said of Bonnie. "Boy, that was really funny! She'd be great doing cartoon voice work."

"Don't you have toilets to go and clean?" Emma then said, pointing toward the Pirate Ship entrance while also glaring angrily at Sabrina.

Looking at how angry Emma, Kelly and Lo were with her for her cruelty toward Bonnie, but not getting the point of just how mad they were or why, Sabrina simply let out a sigh and rolled her eyes. "What-_everrr_," she said dismissively as she got up from her chair and walked away. "I knew I was right about you losers not being able to take a joke."

After leaving the restaurant, Sabrina only got a few steps away before she felt something grab her by her right arm. "HEY!" she snapped as she got jerked backward toward Kelly, who had grabbed her arm. "What's your problem?!"

"Listen up, Seagull Girl," Kelly said, reminding Sabrina of the incident with the seagull at the hotel entrance two days ago. "You ever do anything like that to Bonnie again and I'll duct tape you to the flagpole outside and let those sky rats have their way with you, _understand?!_"

Realizing that Kelly meant business with her warning, Sabrina jerked her arm out of the Pirate Ship manager's grip. "Okay, _fine!_" she said in a resentful tone before walking away again. "_Sheesh_, take a pill, why don't you?" she then muttered under her breath as Kelly glared at her for a moment while watching her go, then turned and went back inside the restaurant. After looking to see Kelly gone, Sabrina then put on an evil grin as she took Bonnie's keychain (which she had found taped to the underside of a table, then stole while cleaning the dining room's floor earlier) out from her maid's apron pocket and checked it out. "That was _sooo_ worth it, though," she then said with another snicker. "Four grom losers down and mission accomplished."

Back in the Pirate Ship, Emma walked up to Kelly when she returned. "Kelly, would you mind if I go talk with Bonnie a moment?" the redhaired Calgary native asked. "I think I might be able to help her out."

"Sure," Kelly agreed. "The lunch rush is slowing down a bit, so Lo and I'll manage 'til you and Bonnie get back."

* * *

In the staff locker room, Bonnie was sitting on a bench in front of a row of lockers, still crying over being humiliated by Sabrina earlier, when Emma came in and approached her. "Hey Bonnie, you okay?" she asked.

"N-N-N-No," Bonnie replied, looking up at Emma with tears running down her cheeks. "I f-f-feel t-t-t-t..."

"Terrible?" Emma said, finishing Bonnie's sentence for her. The pale-skinned brunette simply nodded in response.

"Mind if I sit down?" Emma then asked, getting another nod from Bonnie. "I'm sorry for what happened to you in the DR earlier, Bonnie," she said as she sat down on the bench beside her.

"W-W-W-W-Why?" Bonnie said, struggling to say what she needed to. "You d-d-d-d-didn't d-d-d-d..."

"I know, I didn't do anything wrong," Emma finished for Bonnie. "Sabrina did," she said, noticing the clam chowder spill on the front of Bonnie's uniform. "For some reason, she's had it in for you since we first got here two days ago. Picking on you for stuttering was just the icing on the cake."

"W-W-W-W-Why d-d-d-d-does she have t-t-t-t-to b-b-b-b-be so m-m-m-m-mean?" Bonnie then asked while wiping her tears with a Kleenex.

"It's the way some people are," Emma explained. "They get their kicks from putting others down to make themselves feel superior, especially if they think they have an easy target to go after. If they find a weakness they can exploit, they'll do anything they can to make the other person feel bad. I've dealt with that type of people before."

"Yeah?" Bonnie said.

"For sure," Emma said. "I'll be honest, I don't like bullies...and Sabrina's definitely a bully. She's stuck-up, snobby, self-centered, spoiled and she acts entitled...but above all, she's still a bully." Bonnie said nothing, but simply nodded in agreement.

"If you don't mind me asking," Emma continued, "have you always had problems with stuttering?"

"Yeah," Bonnie replied with a nod.

"Does it get worse if you get stressed out?" Emma said.

"Yeah," Bonnie said, her voice returning to its normal quiet tones.

"_Ohh_, that explains your shyness and why you talk so quietly then," Emma realized. "I guess you don't want other people knowing that you stutter." Again, Bonnie nodded to confirm what Emma guessed.

"That's understandable," Emma said. "I know it can't be easy to ignore the mean comments from those who think stuttering's something to make fun of. But you got people here who'll understand once they realize why you talk quietly, and you've already got a few defenders here. Kelly, Lo and I confronted Sabrina about what she did to you and we kicked her out of the DR for it." Bonnie let out a small, nervous laugh when she heard what Emma said.

"But like Carter said yesterday, you need to be more confident with yourself," Emma went on, "and you need a way to build up your confidence. Remember when you met the Kahuna two days ago when he drove us to the hotel?"

"Sure," Bonnie said, nodding.

"He's our Jack-of-all-trades around Sunset Beach," Emma said. "He does practically everything from drive the Whalebus for the hotel to run a movie theatre in town. He also fits teaching meditation into his schedule, and you could take that up to help you get rid of stress and be more calm and chilled out. If you wanted to do that, I could put in a good word with Kahuna for you."

"Would you?" Bonnie said, turning her head to look at Emma.

"Sure," Emma said reassuringly, placing her hand on Bonnie's shoulder. "The most important thing is not to let Sabrina get to you anymore, but taking up meditation's a start on the right path."

"Wait, what about Sabrina getting to Bonnie?" Ash, who was dressed up in a bathrobe after coming from the locker room showers, wondered about as she walked up, which Emma then briefly explained.

"Hey, if y'all need someone to lay the smack down on that royal pain-in-the-butt next time she gets out of line, that's what I'm here for," Ash, who was disgusted to hear about Sabrina's bullying of Bonnie, offered.

"See what I mean, Bonnie?" Emma said. "You've got quite a few folks here who've got your back against Sabrina. And who knows? At some point, you should even find the confidence to stand up to her and not let her..." Pausing a moment to sniff the air, Emma then detected the scent of something faint and lingering. "Hey, do you smell fish in here?" she asked.

"Don't ask," Ash said when Emma and Bonnie looked her way. "I just spent about twenty minutes tryin' to scrub out the smell of fish guts and I might have to go back for another round in the shower."

"Uh-oh," Emma said, starting to put two and two together. "After what Sabrina did to Bonnie earlier, you don't suppose..."

Ash nodded and smirked. "Yeah, I suppose," she said, figuring that Sabrina was the likely culprit behind getting "fish-gutted" in the gift shop stock room earlier.

"Well, we'll deal with Sabrina when the time comes," Emma said. "In the meantime, Bonnie, let's get you cleaned up and get your spare uniform from your locker. By the way, did you find your initiation keychain yet?"

"No...not yet," Bonnie said, shaking her head.

"Then don't give up yet," Emma said, even though she and Bonnie were both unaware of Sabrina stealing Bonnie's keychain earlier. "It's bound to be around somewhere."

* * *

**So, will Sabrina's attempt at sabotaging the other new groms in their initiation keychain hunt pay off for her? Only one way to know for sure...**


	7. Something About Cheaters and Karma

**CHAPTER 7 - SOMETHING ABOUT CHEATERS AND KARMA  
**

**The final chapter is now up as the devious Sabrina attempts to make good on her plans to ruin grom initiation for the other new groms - but little does she know...  
**

* * *

As six o'clock was approaching, Greg, Ash, Trevor and Bonnie were all marching together toward the new staff house, where they were to meet the seniors to report their progress on their keychain hunt at the end of grom initiation. None of them were happy because they had all been unsuccessful in finding their keychains, but they also had gripes to make about what had happened to them during the search for their keychains, unaware of the sabotage jobs done on them by Sabrina beforehand.

Meanwhile, Sabrina was in a good mood as she strode toward the staff house by herself, revelling in the success of preventing the other groms from finding their keychains. _It sure feels good putting those losers in their place by making them go on wild goose chases for keychains they couldn't even find_, the blonde girl thought to herself with a grin. _The pranks I pulled on them for the added kick made my getting back at them all the better, especially when I made Bonnie look and feel like the loser she is earlier in the restaurant_. As she got closer to the staff house, she then thought, _But keeping the other groms from getting to see the Office isn't enough. If I think of some ideas, maybe I could find a way to keep those loser seniors from having chances to use the Office too, then I could have that spot all to myself_.

The new groms soon arrived at the staff house, where Fin, Emma, Johnny and Ripper were already out on the front porch awaiting the groms' arrival. "Okay guys, it's about five minutes to six," Fin said as she saw the group of five approach. "How'd you do with the keychain search?"

"It sucked," Greg spoke up first. "None of us were able to find our keychains where we were supposed to."

"What?" a puzzled Emma said. "I don't understand. If you followed the clues you got as they were written, you should've been able to find your keychains with no problems. What happened?"

"I'll tell you what did happen," Greg said. "I went searching for my keychain in a dumpster when I got shoved inside and got its lid closed on me!"

"How did that happen?" Fin wondered. "The dumpster wasn't one of the spots we planned for the initiation."

"I was digging around for my keychain at the seventh hole sand trap at the golf course when I got snagged by an ankle snare and hung upside-down by my ankle from a tree branch!" Trevor complained.

"I went to look in the stock room at the gift shop for my keychain when a bucket of fish guts fell on my head as soon as I opened the door!" Ash said next. "Bonnie couldn't find her keychain either because..."

"Wait a minute," Sabrina interrupted, keeping Ash from revealing why Bonnie could not find her keychain. "The rest of you might not have been able to find your keychains, but I found mine," she said, then producing her own keychain from the pocket of her maid's apron. "Now if I remember correctly, you said that only those groms who found their keychains by six o'clock would get to see the Office, right?"

"Yeah, we remember," Ripper said.

"Well, I got mine," Sabrina said smugly, holding up her keychain to show the seniors. "Did any of the others get theirs? Did they?" she added, glancing toward the resentful-looking groms. "No, I didn't think so. So by your own rules, since I'm the only one who found my keychain, that means I'm the only one who gets to see the Office."

"Hey, no need to rub it in, Sabrina," Fin scolded her. Turning to the other groms, she then said, "But what I don't get is what happened to you guys during the initiation. How did you all end up running into the problems you had?"

"That's what we'd like to know," Greg said. "We thought you said you guys were scrapping hazing for grom initiation."

"We did," Emma said in the seniors' defence. "We told you that this morning at the beach. But I've got a pretty good idea of what was behind the stuff that happened to you."

"Yeah, Emma knows, all right," Ash said, about to reveal her suspicion of Sabrina being behind the pranks against her and the other groms. "That's 'cause..."

"Sure, Emma knows what happened," Sabrina then interrupted again, preventing Ash from finishing. "That's because she lied about taking hazing out of the initiation. She and the other seniors only said they were getting rid of hazing to try to get us to let our guard down so they could get us with pranks when we weren't expecting it!"

"What?!" an astonished Emma said. "That's not true!"

"What's not true?" Lo, who had just arrived at the staff house with Reef, Broseph and Kelly, then asked.

"You and the other seniors lied about getting rid of hazing from grom initiation," Sabrina lied again. "Just ask Greg, Trevor and Ash about what happened to them! You were behind those things!"

"Sabrina, that's a lie!" an indignant Emma said. "We didn't do anything to the groms during the initiation!"

"Hey, if you're so sure the seniors did those things to us, then what happened to you during initiation, huh?" Ash said, determined to catch Sabrina in her lie. "What did the seniors do to you? And what about what happened to Bonnie earlier in the restaurant?"

"Yeah, how about that, Sabrina?" Lo said. "I was there when it happened, remember?"

"Hey, don't go changing the subject," Sabrina said, still intent on shifting the blame for her wrongdoing onto the seniors. "This is about you and the other seniors, remember?"

"You know, if you're lying about what you're saying, Sabrina," Johnny joined in, "we'll find out, and we have ways to do so."

"Right, like I care," a dismissive Sabrina said. "But it makes no difference. All that matters now is that I won and the other groms lost, so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go change so you can take me to see the Office." She then walked with an arrogant swagger past the other groms and the seniors, none of whom looked pleased to see Sabrina gloat about being the only one to pass the grom initiation or to have her falsely accuse the seniors of hazing the groms after they had promised to get rid of it.

As she went up the steps leading to the staff house front porch, however, Sabrina ended up tripping on the top step and fell to the porch deck. When Sabrina got up, Fin noticed there were four other keychains sprawled around the spot where the snobby blonde landed. "Wait a minute, what's this?" Fin asked as she spotted the keychains.

When she looked down and saw the keychains, which had fallen out of the pocket of her maid's apron when she fell on the porch, Sabrina let out a gasp of mock surprise. "Now how did those get there?" she said in an insincere attempt at playing innocent.

"I think I got a real good idea how they got there," Ripper spoke up. "She must've found out where the keychains were beforehand and she snuck around the hotel to steal them from their hiding places before initiation. Maybe that's why she wasn't at the beach with the rest of us for dawn patrol."

"What? As _if_," Sabrina said in denial. "I told you I slept in while you were all at the beach 'cause I don't surf, remember?"

"And the only way Sabrina could've pulled that off would be if..." Emma said, then she gasped as an epiphany dawned on her. "...would be if she broke into our room and found the clues we wrote for the groms!" she added, turning to Fin.

"Which can only mean Sabrina was the one who set those traps for us," Trevor said.

"And that she sabotaged Greg by switching a fake final clue that she wrote for the real one we did," Emma added while looking toward Sabrina, who realized she was busted but tried not to let it show.

"So that explains everything," Fin then said. "Sabrina, you had to cheat to give yourself an unfair advantage in the initiation while keeping the other groms from getting ahead. That violates the spirit of grom initiation."

"You're still wrong," Sabrina said tersely, still trying to deny her dirty deeds. "I still got my keychain and there's nothing you can do about it but to show me the Office!"

"Oh, yes there is," Fin said. "For cheating in the grom initiation, Sabrina, you're disqualified. That means you failed the initiation and you don't get to see the Office - _ever_."

"NO!" a petulant Sabrina snapped while stamping her right foot on the porch. "You can't do that!"

"We can, and, uh...we just did," Fin deadpanned to Sabrina. "As for the other groms," she added while turning to Greg, Ash, Trevor and Bonnie, "since the four of you would've found your keychains anyway if not for Sabrina's interference, that means you all passed initiation and you'll get to see the Office whenever you're ready."

"YEAH! WOO-HOO! Awesome!" Greg and the other overjoyed groms yelled out gleefully as they celebrated their victory with Fin, Reef, Emma and the other seniors. However, a disgruntled Sabrina, acting out of sour grapes, decided to play the spoilsport. "Yeah? Well, who cares about your stupid Office?!" she said out of spite as she threw her keychain down on the porch deck at Fin's feet. "It's probably just a dump anyway!"

Sabrina then turned around and stormed into the staff house in a huff while everyone else watched, but Greg simply shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, who cares what she thinks?" the big Hawaiian said, blowing off Sabrina's spiteful comment. "We're gonna get to surf the Office! Now how _hu'i hu'i_ is that?"

"_Hu'i_ what now?" a puzzled Reef said to Greg, not knowing what he said.

"It means 'cool' in Hawaiian," Greg explained.

"Ah, now I get it," Reef said. "We felt the same way last year when we were groms and we passed initiation."

"Then what're we waiting for?" an enthusiastic Ash said. "Let's go check out the Office and shred some waves!" The other groms and the seniors echoed Ash's sentiment as they whooped it up while heading inside the staff house to get changed.

* * *

A few minutes later, seniors Reef, Broseph, Johnny, Ripper and Ty and groms Greg and Trevor were the first ones out the front doors of the staff house with their surfboards to head toward the Office, with Greg and Trevor both feeling stoked about their first opportunity to surf the spot long considered by those who knew of its existence to be the best surfing zone in Canada.

Moments later though, Sabrina, who was still chagrined over being denied what she thought was her "right" to see the Office, appeared in the doorway to watch the guys sprint into the woods nearby and hit the trail toward the fabled surf spot. "_Hmph_, they think they can deny me my chance to see the Office?" she grumbled as she looked on. "I don't care what they say, I earned my right to see it! And if they can find it, then so can I! All I have to do is follow them from a distance and watch where they go, and I can brush the rest of those losers off! I _will_ see the Office!"

Sabrina, determined to get what she wanted despite being disqualified in the initiation for cheating, walked off the porch and snuck discreetly toward the edge of the woods where the trail to the Office began, watching as the guys headed along the trail toward their destination. Just as she was about to make her move, however, Sabrina felt something land with a splat on top of her head, eerily similar to what happened to her at the hotel entrance on her first day at Surfer's Paradise. With a gasp, Sabrina looked up...and once again spotted the seagull that had "bombed" her then. With a scream, the snobby blonde took off running, yelling "AIEEEEE! Get away from me! Get away from me! Get off me!" as the seagull chased her away from the trees and around the staff house.

Just then, Fin, Lo, Emma and Kelly, along with groms Ash and Bonnie, ran out of the staff house to see what the commotion was when they saw Sabrina being chased by the seagull toward the hotel. "Hey, looks like Sabrina found herself a new playmate," Kelly remarked while watching the scene.

"Looks like they're suited for each other," Emma quipped.

"Couldn't have happened to someone more deserving than her," Ash added. "Especially after all the trouble she's caused."

"I wonder if she'll have enough shampoo handy for her hair when the seagull's done with her," Lo said, making the girls laugh as they remembered Sabrina's first encounter with the seagull.

"Now that's what I love about karma," Fin said, reasoning that Sabrina got what she deserved for her actions. To the other girls, she then said, "Come on, we can't let the guys have all the fun at the Office now, can we?" With a cheer, the girls then grabbed their boards (except for Bonnie, who did not have her own board) and made tracks for the Office, while elsewhere around the hotel grounds, Sabrina continued running and screaming as the seagull kept chasing her.

* * *

After the girls arrived at the Office, the entire group of the seniors and most of the new groms hit the water to start surfing. While Reef, Broseph, Fin, Lo, Johnny, Ty and Ripper went through their move sets, Emma showed how much she had improved as a surfer since her first summer at Surfer's Paradise by pulling off some complicated surf moves on the waves. Likewise, Kelly put her own surfing improvements on display with a few tricks, capped off by her execution of the Vortex, the airborne corkscrew spin she first unveiled to the rest of the gang at the Office last Christmas.

Of the new groms, Greg, Trevor and Ash also showed off what they could do on the water with a few moves of their own. Greg successfully surfed the green room again, shot up the wave face and rode along its top edge for a few seconds, while Trevor, like Reef before him, attempted to impress the gang in general (and Lo in particular) by doing some grandstanding, which made a bemused Fin wonder sardonically where she had seen those moves before. To Trevor's chagrin, however, he discovered that Lo had not been paying attention when he did his moves - but, unknown to him, Bonnie, the only one of the groms watching from the shore, had seen Trevor in action and was impressed by his surf stunts, as well as by his short, spiky brown hair and lean, buffed physique.

After their surf session was done, the seniors and the groms were gathered around a bonfire to roast marshmallows on the Office beach, with the groms chatting excitedly about their first time surfing the Office. "That was amazing!" Ash declared. "It makes the whole initiation keychain hunt and what Sabrina put us through totally worth it!"

"Yeah, other than Sabrina shoving me into a dumpster after misleading me with that fake clue, it wasn't that bad," Greg said.

"And she thought she could put one over on us," Trevor said of Sabrina's cheating and her pranks on the other groms, "but in the end, she brought herself down when she tripped on the porch stairs and exposed herself as the keychain thief."

"And maybe that'll teach Sabrina a lesson," Emma said.

"If we're lucky," Fin added. Turning to Bonnie, she then said, "Hey Bonnie, how come we didn't see you out on the water with the rest of us? You like surfing, don't you?"

"Sure...I think," Bonnie said. "I've just...never done it before."

Bonnie's confession made the rest of the gang gasp in shock. "What?!" "No way!" "Are you serious?" were among the comments the others made in response.

"Whoa, chiquita, that sounds _so_ wrong," Broseph said to Bonnie. "We gotta get you out on the water, stat."

"And I'm just the one to show you how it's done," Reef boasted as he stood up. "Reef Garcia, surfing instructor extraordinaire at your service."

"You don't want to learn surfing from a kook, do you Bonnie?" Fin said to the pale-skinned brunette girl. "Just get a board and I'll teach you."

"Okay guys, I got a toast to make," Emma announced. "Without Bummer bossing us around anymore, I think our second summer at Surfer's Paradise is going to be a great one."

"Uh, correction," Ash pointed out. "It's the first summer here for us groms, remember?"

"And it's the third summer here for me, Johnny and Kelly," Ripper added.

"And Lo and I've been here most of our lives 'cause we live at the hotel," Ty joined in.

"Okay, same difference," Emma said. "But Sabrina aside, this summer here's going to be a big improvement over the last one. We have a cool new boss replacing that jerk Bummer..."

"Yeah," Fin agreed, "and the waves are still as awesome and the beach just as beautiful as they were last year. You're right, Alberta, this summer's gonna be awesome." Raising her marshmallow on her stick, Fin declared, "To Surfer's Paradise!"

"To Surfer's Paradise!" the other seniors and the groms replied with enthusiasm and a few cheers and whoops while standing up, then they sat back down on the logs around the bonfire for a singalong as Broseph and Ripper provided the entertainment with their acoustic guitars, with all looking forward to another summer of working and surfing together at the hotel.

**THE END**

* * *

**Thanks for all the comments on this story, folks. As they say, keep 'em coming. :D  
**


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